The Risk of Body Packing: a Case of a Fatal Cocaine Overdose
Overview
Authors
Affiliations
The process of swallowing or inserting illegal packets of drugs for the purpose of evading law enforcement officers carries risks other than criminal charges. It can be fatal. Individuals engaged in such activities are called "Body Packers" or "Mules". The most frequent cause of the death among body packers is acute drug intoxication due to rupture of the package(s) within the gastrointestinal tract. We present the first documented case of a body packer that died from cocaine intoxication following the rupture of packets of cocaine in Western Pennsylvania.
Methamphetamine poisoning due to body packer swallowing in a prisoner.
Rouhani R, Zakariaei Z, Malakian A, Banimostafavi E, Soleymani M Clin Case Rep. 2022; 10(9):e6358.
PMID: 36177079 PMC: 9474902. DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.6358.
Serinelli S, Bonaccorso L, Furnari C, Gitto L Acad Forensic Pathol. 2022; 12(1):23-30.
PMID: 35694007 PMC: 9179001. DOI: 10.1177/19253621211065334.
Sudden Cardiac Death of a Body Packer Due to Cocaine Cardiotoxicity.
Pramanik P, Vidua R Clin Med Insights Pathol. 2016; 9:33-35.
PMID: 27932899 PMC: 5123768. DOI: 10.4137/CPath.S41070.
Bulakci M, Cengel F Br J Radiol. 2016; 89(1060):20150888.
PMID: 26867003 PMC: 4846215. DOI: 10.1259/bjr.20150888.
Foreign material in the gastrointestinal tract: cocaine packets.
Kucukmetin N, Gucyetmez B, Poyraz T, Yildirim S, Boztas G, Tozun N Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2014; 8(1):56-60.
PMID: 24574951 PMC: 3934785. DOI: 10.1159/000358555.