Former Winner of 'Latin American Idol' Arrested for Heroin

BUENOS AIRES -- Dominican singer Martha Heredia, winner  of the 2009 edition of Latin American Idol in Argentina, was arrested Wednesday night with an undetermined amount of heroin at the Cibao international airport in the Dominican city of Santiago, according to a report by EFE. The 22-year-old singer was about to board a flight to New York.

"Mrs. Heredia is being transferred to the headquarters of the National Drug Control Office in Santo Domingo for questioning, before she is returned to Santiago so the local district attorney’s office can file charges against her," the drug agency's spokesman Roberto Lebrón told local TV networks.

Local media reported the artist was found with 1.8 kg of heroin stashed inside the heels of her shoes and other similar clothes she was carrying in her luggage.

Heredia won the 4^th season of Latin American Idol in Argentina in 2009, and was welcomed back to her home country by Dominican President Leonel Fernandez.

Last year, Heredia told local reporters the show had been a fraud, since she was promised international tours that were never organized.

Ever since winning the LatAm version of the popular TV show, Heredia has had a share of legal troubles, including a lawsuit she filed against her husband, singer Vakeró, who is now in custody for abusing Heredia physically and psychologically.  "I’m tired of taking in the beating and the insults, and the justice here is no good because they were paid off to leave while I was being abused," she wrote on her Twitter account at the time.

Heredia was also involved in a car accident in 2010 when she was driving from Santo Domingo to her hometown, Santiago. A 16-year-old Haitian boy died in the accident, for which Heredia was sued by the victim’s family.