--- description: The 42-year-old Japanese man, identified only as Udo N, was declared dead after paramedics boarded the plane title: A Man Died on a Plane After Swallowing a Lot of Cocaine image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb660b233bd16fc51/69894a7d7cdbace7d0d5f956/aeromexico-japan-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Japan](/tag/japan/) ## Japan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Man Died Mid-Flight After Swallowing Hundreds of Cocaine Packets by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 28, 2019 7:10 AM CUT  An AeroMexico Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft at Amsterdam Schiphol airport on Jan. 17, 2018. An AeroMexico Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft at Amsterdam Schiphol airport on Jan. 17, 2018.C.V. Grinsven—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images by [Hillary Leung](/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 28, 2019 7:10 AM CUT A Japanese man who swallowed 246 packets of cocaine [died while on a flight](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/28/man-dies-on-aeromexico-flight-after-swallowing-246-packets-of-cocaine "undefined") from Bogota to Tokyo on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports. Authorities [identified](https://www.facebook.com/119502371770491/posts/817209991999722 "undefined") the man only as 42-year-old Udo N in a social media post Monday. The incident prompted the Aeromexico flight to make an emergency landing in the northern Mexico state of Sonora after flight attendants noticed that he was having seizures. Paramedics then boarded the plane and declared the man dead. Prosecutors said the cause of his death was cerebral edema — a swelling of the brain — caused by the drug overdose. According to an autopsy, the man had 246 packets of cocaine, each measuring about 0.4 inches by 1 inch, in his stomach and intestines. The plane, which had 198 other passengers on board, resumed its flight to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport after the body was removed. Swallowing drugs, despite its hazards, is one way smugglers use to transport narcotics due to the ability to bypass security systems and screening processes. Earlier this month, two Thai nationals who were traveling to Bali [were arrested](https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crime/1682132/cavity-search-halts-thai-couples-meth-smuggling-plan "undefined") after ingesting almost two pounds of methamphetamine, according to the Bangkok _Post_. Last year, a Brazilian student died after one of the cocaine pellets he swallowed [ruptured](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brazilian-student-died-after-cocaine-pellets-burst-inside-him-on-flight-to-dublin-1.3504657 "undefined") inside him when he was flying from Lisbon to Dublin, the Irish Times reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5596779/japanese-man-dies-swallowing-cocaine-plane/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5596779/japanese-man-dies-swallowing-cocaine-plane/"},"headline":"A Man Died Mid-Flight After Swallowing Hundreds of Cocaine Packets","datePublished":"2019-05-28T07:10:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:36:45.110Z","description":"He was flying from Bogota to Tokyo when he began having a seizure","url":"https://time.com/5596779/japanese-man-dies-swallowing-cocaine-plane/","keywords":["Japan","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb660b233bd16fc51/69894a7d7cdbace7d0d5f956/aeromexico-japan-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb660b233bd16fc51/69894a7d7cdbace7d0d5f956/aeromexico-japan-cocaine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AeroMexico Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on final approach","caption":"AeroMexico Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on final approach","creditText":"C.V. Grinsven—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/japan/","name":"Japan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5596779/japanese-man-dies-swallowing-cocaine-plane/","name":"A Man Died Mid-Flight After Swallowing Hundreds of Cocaine Packets"}}]}] ```