:: BïtS 'N' PiëCÉS ::

Maria, is a 17-year-old Colombian who is on the road to discovering the adult she would be. After her boss at the flower plantation refuses to let her go to the bathroom when she was ill, she quit her job. (much to the chagrin of her family, who depends on her totally for $). At the same time, she realises that she is 2months pregnant, however since she did not feel any love for her boyfriend, she decided against marrying him. Around that same time, she befriended 'Franklin' the man who introduced the idea of becoming a 'mule'. A mule is a person who trafficks heroin by swallowing numerous plastic bags of it and entering the States via plane.

Here's a picture of the pellets, Maria had to swallow 62 of them.

Mules are not allowed to eat 24hrs before the flight (just like before surgery) and takes inhaled anesthesia, and anticholinergics (to slow down gastrointestinal motility). The process of swallowing so many pellets can be really daunting, it's hard to do it, and it's also dangerous. If any of these pellets break open in the mule, he/she will die (fr drug overdose of course). After they arrive, they are given laxatives to purge out all those pellets. And then, they are paid an equivalent of 5000 USD, which is like 7-8million pesos for them. One such trip can buy a big house for the family. It's not difficult to see where the attraction of it lies, for pple as impoverished as them.
In total, 4 'mules' were bound for New York. Maria and another were detained. Xrays showed the pellets in the GIT of the other lady and she was arrested. Lucky for Maria, she could not do x-rays (cuz... if u all dunno, shld go re-d0 GS posting!) plus she lied really convincingly and was let thru. Unfortunately, Lucy, one who had done the trip 2x before, became severely ill (prob one of the pellets came loose). She was gutted (!!!) by the drug dealers so they could get the remaining pellets out of her. Maria and her friend, Blanca panicked and took off with their own pellets, seekng refuge at Lucy's sister's house. Eventually they were thrown out... In the end, Blanca managed to return to Colombia, while Maria changed her mind in the last minute and decided to find job in the States so she could send money back. She stayed mainly coz of her baby, Lucy's sister had told her that the only reason holding her in the States, away from her family, was so her unborn child could live a better life and get more opportunities.

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