US woman hides 1.5 kg of cocaine in 'pregnant' belly

A South Carolina woman claiming to be pregnant turned out to be hiding over a kilogram of cocaine inside a fake rubber stomach, local police reported.

The woman, identified as Cemeka Mitchem was in a car on Interstate 85 in South Carolina when she and the car's driver Anthony Miller were pulled over in a proactive traffic stop.

Speaking to ABC News, police officer Shale Remien said Miller was driving erratically, weaving through lanes and nearly crashing into a truck.

The police officers started to become suspicious when the two would-be drug traffickers were giving contradictory information regarding Mitchem's due date. Upon realizing the ruse was not working, the supposedly pregnant woman attempted to make a quick getaway, with drugs now spilling out of her stomach, according to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office.

Police also found an unspecified amount of marijuana in their car, ABC News reported.

Unique drug trafficking tactics

Drug traffickers have used a number of unorthodox methods to attempt to conceal their illicit merchandise. 

In February 2023, Israeli customs agents managed to thwart an attempt at smuggling 150,000 illegal male sexual performance-enhancing drugs hidden in pickle barrels.

In January, Israel Police caught an attempt by four young Israeli girls to smuggle millions of shekels worth of ketamine and cocaine hidden within shampoo bottles and health food and supplement packages.

Michael Starr contributed to this report.