- SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: An American singer suspected of trying to smuggle more than a kg of heroin in his stomach was detained as he tried to board a US-bound flight at a Dominican airport, authorities said.
Ramon Alcides Rodriguez, spokesman of the country's drug control agency, said that New York-born bachata singer Jimmy Bauer became sick at Santo Domingo's International Airport on Monday when a couple of pellets he had swallowed apparently burst.
Bauer, whose real name is Jaime Vargas, was trying to board a flight to the United States when customs and drug authorities stopped him for "strange behavior," Rodriguez said. He said an X-ray examination of Bauer's abdomen showed dozens of pellets in his stomach.
Dominican authorities rushed Bauer to a nearby military hospital, where 88 pellets were extracted from his stomach, Rodriguez said. Two other pellets had burst, he added.
Authorities initially suspected the pellets contained cocaine, but Rodriguez said laboratory tests showed it was 1.04 kg of pure heroin. Bauer, who was hospitalized in serious condition, was being guarded by three officers of the drug agency.
