Travelers beware! A 91-year-old man in Australia has been charged with importing cocaine after a large quantity was found in his suitcase. The retired surgeon claims he was unaware of how it got there and believes he could have fallen victim to a scam.
The Associated Press reported that Victor Twartz, a retired oral surgeon, was arrested last month after he arrived in Sydney on flight from New Delhi, India. Upon searching his luggage, airport officials found 10 pounds of cocaine, worth more than $1 million, hidden in packages of bar soap.
Police said that Twartz told them he was given the bag by people he met on an all-expense paid trip to India.
"They ... took me to the airport and gave it to me at the last minute," Twartz said.
Authorities said that there is some evidence to support that the retired dentist may have very well been the victim of scammers trying to trick him into becoming a drug mule.
"He had been targeted for some time," Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commander David Stewart said. "These syndicates often target the lonely and the vulnerable among people within our society, and build that rapport, that trust.”
He faces a potential sentence of life in prison for the crime. His next court date is Oct. 6.