Marlyn Gonzalez, 26, was charged with trafficking more than 28 grams of heroin, police said.
Police said Gonzales flew to her native Dominican Republic earlier this month and returned home to Lawrence, a heavily Latino immigrant city, after swallowing nearly four dozen baby carrot-sized bags of heroin. They said she took a pill to prevent her from going to the bathroom on the plane ride.As detectives arrested her at 5 p.m. at Union and Common streets, Gonzalez said, "My lawyer told me not to talk to police."Gonzalez was held overnight on $5,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned this morning in Lawrence District Court on the narcotics charge and an outstanding warrant, police said.
Police said the woman flew to the Dominican Republic earlier this month and returned home to Lawrence after swallowing nearly four dozen baby carrot-sized bags of heroin. She also took a pill to prevent her from going to the bathroom on the plane ride home.Last Thursday morning, Gonzalez, of 221 Bruce St., #2, became ill and her boyfriend took her to the hospital. She admitted to swallowing the heroin and doctors said she was suffering an opiate overdose caused by some of the heroin bags breaking open.She was given Narcan, a drug which reverses the effect of a heroin overdose, and she was admitted to the hospital, staying in the intensive care unit during part of her stay. Detectives closely monitored her condition over the weekend.The heroin Gonzalez was carrying had a street value of approximately $50,000. Gonzalez was paid $4,000 for smuggling the illegal drugs into the United States. She planned to use the money to pay off court fines on a shoplifting charge in New Hampshire, police said.The investigation remains open and further charges could be pending."It's a lot of drugs and we'd like to find out where it was going," police Chief John Romero said last night.Detectives are now looking into all of Gonzalez's visits outside the United States, including a trip to South Korea in the past year, Romero said.Born in the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez is unemployed, according to a booking slip.Commonly known as drug mules, visitors to foreign countries occasionally return to the United States after ingesting narcotics. The drugs are sometimes packaged in condoms or small balloons and then ingested.Hospital staff are required to notify police when they come across such cases.
Police said Gonzales flew to her native Dominican Republic earlier this month and returned home to Lawrence, a heavily Latino immigrant city, after swallowing nearly four dozen baby carrot-sized bags of heroin. They said she took a pill to prevent her from going to the bathroom on the plane ride.As detectives arrested her at 5 p.m. at Union and Common streets, Gonzalez said, "My lawyer told me not to talk to police."Gonzalez was held overnight on $5,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned this morning in Lawrence District Court on the narcotics charge and an outstanding warrant, police said.Police said the woman flew to the Dominican Republic earlier this month and returned home to Lawrence after swallowing nearly four dozen baby carrot-sized bags of heroin. She also took a pill to prevent her from going to the bathroom on the plane ride home.Last Thursday morning, Gonzalez, of 221 Bruce St., #2, became ill and her boyfriend took her to the hospital. She admitted to swallowing the heroin and doctors said she was suffering an opiate overdose caused by some of the heroin bags breaking open.She was given Narcan, a drug which reverses the effect of a heroin overdose, and she was admitted to the hospital, staying in the intensive care unit during part of her stay. Detectives closely monitored her condition over the weekend.The heroin Gonzalez was carrying had a street value of approximately $50,000. Gonzalez was paid $4,000 for smuggling the illegal drugs into the United States. She planned to use the money to pay off court fines on a shoplifting charge in New Hampshire, police said.The investigation remains open and further charges could be pending."It's a lot of drugs and we'd like to find out where it was going," police Chief John Romero said last night.Detectives are now looking into all of Gonzalez's visits outside the United States, including a trip to South Korea in the past year, Romero said.Born in the Dominican Republic, Gonzalez is unemployed, according to a booking slip.Commonly known as drug mules, visitors to foreign countries occasionally return to the United States after ingesting narcotics. The drugs are sometimes packaged in condoms or small balloons and then ingested.Hospital staff are required to notify police when they come across such cases.
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