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| Martha Heredia |
(Scroll down for video) An extremely popular American Idol winner was arrested and charged with drug smuggling related charges after being caught smuggling drugs, according to police reports in the Dominican Republic.
The winner of the television talent show "American Idol," which was once loved by thousands of people in her native Dominican Republic, was charged with drug trafficking after police found heroin stuffed inside her heel shoes, authorities said Thursday.
Martha Heredia was arrested Wednesday night as she was about to board a plane to New York, Frank Duran, director of the Santiago Bureau of National Drug Control, said.
He said that police found 2.9 pounds of heroin in the heels of three pairs of shoes inside her suitcase. The police also ordered Heredia to undergo X-ray tests in order to determine if she had any drugs hidden inside her body. Police said the x-ray tests did not find any drugs hidden inside her body.
Duran said police are questioning Heredia to determine if she was working as a mule for a drug trafficking organization.
If convicted, she could face more than 10 years in prison.
The 22-year-old had become a star in the Dominican Republic after winning the final American Idol contest in 2009. The show, which lasted three years, was a Spanish version of the popular American Idol.
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