A spokesman for the drugs control service in Solnechnogorsk, a city northwest of Moscow, said hospital officials reported that a man had been admitted to hospital suffering from suspected narcotic poisoning.
"Heroin wraps were removed during a stomach pump. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save his life. The autopsy showed he had 89 heroin wraps in his stomach with a total weight of 578 grams," the official said adding several wraps were damaged.
Prior to his death, the man told doctors he had arrived in the city in early December with a friend who was also carrying heroin.
Drug police located the other courier, who had also been admitted to hospital, where doctors carried out an emergency operation retrieving 81 heroin wraps with a total weight of over 630 grams, the official said.
A criminal investigation has been opened against the surviving drug mule, who could face up to 12 years in prison for drug trafficking.
On Thursday, police in the Moscow Region arrested a jobless Tajik national in possession of about two kilos of heroin.
Tajikistan is a major gateway to Russia and neighboring countries for the continual flow of drugs from Afghanistan, the world's leading producer of heroin.
