Prison for trafficker who left drugs "courier" to die

The background to the case was the death of a drugs courier in June. A Dutchman of Dominican origin collapsed and died at a Playa de Palma hotel after four sleeves of cocaine burst in his stomach. He had gone to the hotel's reception at six in the morning, asking for help, before rushing to the toilet and attempting to make himself vomit. He died almost immediately afterwards.

The autopsy revealed that there were 40 grams of cocaine in his body. The National Police took charge of the case and checked mobile phone messages which included one from an accomplice giving advice as to how to get the sleeves out of his system.

The man now in prison had gone to the hotel in order to collect the drugs but left the courier to his fate when it became evident that he couldn't expel the cocaine. He then left the island, but police tracked his movements. He recently returned to Majorca and was arrested early on Thursday morning. One hundred grams of cocaine were seized during the arrest operation.