Japanese man who swallowed 246 cocaine packets dies on Bogota-to-Tokyo flight

The Aeromexico flight made an emergency landing in northern Mexico.

May 28, 2019, 3:19 AM

A 42-year-old Japanese man died on a Bogota-to-Tokyo flight after swallowing 246 packets of cocaine and having a seizure.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death -- brain swelling from cocaine overdose -- after the man's body was removed from an Aeromexico flight that made an emergency landing in northern Mexico, according to a statement issued by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Sonora.

"Staff noticed that a person was suffering from seizures, so they requested to make an emergency landing in this city, Hermosillo," according to the statement.

When authorities boarded the plane around 2:25 a.m. local time on Friday, the man was dead.

He was identified by authorities only as Udo N.

PHOTO: A Japanese man who swallowed 246 packets of cocaine died on a flight from Bogota to Tokyo that made an emergency landing in Mexico.
A Japanese man who swallowed 246 packets of cocaine died on a flight from Bogota to Tokyo that made an emergency landing in Mexico.
Office of the Attorney General of the State of Sonora

The flight and its 198 passengers eventually continued on to Japan.