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BY
CAMILLE CLARKE
A VENEZUELAN national was found dead by prisons officers
yesterday morning in the Port-of-Spain Prison.
Prisons officials said Jose Carlos Ortega, 26, died after
he complained to the in-house doctor that he was feeling
unwell, and had pains in his lower back and kidneys.
A report said Ortega collapsed later in the prison and subsequently
died.
The body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre for
an autopsy.
Ortega was committed to stand trial, in February, 2006,
of possession of $5 million worth of compressed marijuana,
with the intent to traffic in south Trinidad.
A resident of Carupano, Ortega was held by the Coast Guard
in Chaguaramas.
Homicide officers said Ortega died of natural causes after
he had visited the prisons’ doctor.
However, in a release yesterday, Prisons Commissioner John
Rougier said the inmate died of pulmonary embolism—a
blood clot in his main artery.
The release said Rougier had advised that Ortega spend two
days in Port-of-Spain General Hospital for medical examinations,
having been referred by the prisons’ medical officer.
The statement said the prisoner was treated and discharged
on January 9, 2008.
Ortega was moved to the prisons infirmary for medical management
where he later died, the release said.
The release said the Prisons Commissioner assured that the
inmate’s relatives were immediately contacted, as well
as the Venezuelan Embassy, and that efforts were being made
for Ortega’s family to receive the body.
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