A man accused of manslaughter after his mother-in-law died transporting drugs in her stomach has been cleared by a jury.
Peter Phillip Leaitua, 44, was charged with importing cocaine following the death of the woman in 2011.
But today a jury at the High Court in Auckland came back with a not guilty verdict.
In September 2011, Leaitua, his partner, two children and mother-in-law Sorlinda Aristizabal Vega flew from Argentina to Auckland.
Ms Aristizabal, 37, a Colombian national, had 584 grams of cocaine in condoms inside her body, and eventually died of an overdose of the class-A drug the day after landing.
