Man dies after swallowing two packets of cocaine

A 40-year-old man, who tried to escape arrest by police officers armed with a search warrant, swallowed two packets of cocaine, overdosed on the drug and was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Reports revealed that around 9 am yesterday, officers of the Port-of-Spain CID who were on an exercise in the Maraval area went to the home of Joseph Da Silva at Da Silva Terrace with a search warrant to search the man’s home for drugs. When officers arrived at the house, they announced their presence and called out to Da Silva. When he failed to respond, officers broke down a door leading to a bedroom and found him lying on the floor trying to vomit. He later began frothing from the mouth and went into a state of unconsciousness. The man was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy  carried out yesterday revealed that death was due to an overdose of cocaine.

Two packets containing the remants of cocaine were discovered in the dead man’s stomach. A party of police officers went to the scene of the incident and seized a quantity of cocaine and apparatus. Da Silva was a former manager at a cloth store in Port-of-Spain and has relatives living in Diego Martin. Police investigators yesterday appealed to members of the public with information on Da Silva’s relatives to contact Snr Supt Ali of the Port-of-Spain Division.