May 29 (India Today) – In what can be referred to as an eccentric case of drug-related deaths, a Japanese man died on a flight while travelling from Bogota in Colombia to Tokyo in Japan after ‘swallowing’ 246 packets of cocaine. The plane made an emergency landing in northern Mexico after he began “suffering convulsions”, authorities told AFP on Monday.
Drug cartels often end up transporting narcotics inside human “mules” as a smuggling tactic.
The prosecutor’s office for the state of Sonora (Mexico) said that the man has been identified as Udo “N” and was 42 years old. He had a seizure after travelling from Bogota to Mexico City and boarding a connecting flight to Japan, it said, adding that the man was declared dead after the plane from Bogota landed.
“Flight attendants noticed a person suffering convulsions, and requested permission to make an emergency landing in Hermosillo, Sonora. When the plane landed at 2.25am on Friday (May 24), paramedics boarded it and declared Udo ‘N’ deceased,” the statement read.
The man had swallowed 246 packets of cocaine, each measuring 1 by 2.5 centimeters, found in his stomach and intestines as per the autopsy report. In fact, the statement also mentioned that an overdose of the drug had caused his brain to swell, ultimately leading to death.
Prosecutors also told foreign media that the plane, carrying 198 other passengers, resumed its flight after the deceased’s body was removed and international protocols were completed.
