A NEPALESE farmer who was down on his luck swallowed $1.1 million worth of heroin-filled condoms so he could return home to his impoverished wife and one-year-old baby.
Arjun Gurung, 23, was a courier for a drug operation in Bangkok and swallowed 126 condoms of heroin after he had been befriended by one of the syndicate's members, the High Court heard yesterday.
He pleaded guilty to trafficking and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The court heard how Gurung, unable to eke out a decent living for his family, sold his farm after he was convinced by an 'employment agent' to leave Nepal for a chance at a well-paid job in Malaysia.
On March 6, Gurung and six other men went to Bangkok from Nepal, where they waited in a guesthouse for the agent to arrive with their visas. He never arrived, and what little money Gurung had quickly ran out.
'His dreams were shattered and he wanted to go home,' said Walker Sham, defending.
