Getty Images/Douglas Sacha
Colombian police caught a 40-year-old man trying to sneak several bags of cocaine under a carefully placed wig. Police got suspicious when they peeped something off near the man’s toupe on an airport security scanner, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
CNN reports that Cartagena Metropolitan Police arrested the unidentified man at the Rafael Nunez International Airport. Reports say police stopped him while he tried to board a flight from Colombia to Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to AP News, a scanner exposed the stash 220 grams (7.76 ounces) of the substance packed into small bags under what cops called a “narco wig.” The outlet says police estimate the street value of the substances to be a reported hefty value of $10,000.
A police video from Monday, February 25, reportedly shows an officer checking a body scan before grabbing and slicing through the suspect’s wig. After cutting through, he exposes what appears to be allegedly a dozen small packets filled with white substances tucked underneath.
Per AP, this isn’t the first time the man’s had a run-in with the police. Authorities say he also has two drug trafficking convictions on his record.
CNN says authorities have turned the unknown man over to the attorney general’s office on trafficking, manufacturing, and drug possession charges. Right now, there’s no word on whether he has a lawyer or what’s next for him.
Cartagena Police Commander Gen. Gelver Yesid Pea called out organized crime groups for fooling young people into believing they can slip past airport security with illegal substances.
Organized crime groups are exploiting young people, falsely suggesting they can easily bypass our security measures. However, this case demonstrates that is not true.
According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, cocaine production has been rising since 2013. Cops caught the man trying to smuggle drugs, adding to the 450 reported drug trafficking arrests in Colombia. Fox 5 Atlanta also says authorities have already seized 115 kilograms of narcotics in 2025.
