Japanese Man Tries Smuggling 246 Packets of Cocaine by Swallowing it, Dies on Flight

A Japanese man was trying to smuggle 246 packets of cocaine from Bogota in Colombia to Tokyo in Japan by swallowing all of it but died. An emergency landing was made in northern Mexico after he began “suffering convulsions”, authorities told AFP on Monday.

The prosecutor’s office for the state of Sonora (Mexico) identified the man as Udo “N,” 42 years old. He had a seizure after traveling from Bogota to Mexico City and boarding a connecting flight to Japan, it said. 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.

As per the autopsy report, 246 packets of cocaine were found in his stomach and intestines, each measuring 1 by 2.5 centimeters. The statement also mentioned that due to drug overdose his brain swelled, leading to death.

Prosecutors told foreign media that the plane, carrying 198 other passengers, resumed after the deceased’s body was removed and international protocols were completed.