Cocaine on a plane: Japanese passenger dies during flight after ingesting 246 packets

A razor blade is used to divide the contents of a vile of crack, a smokable, purified form of cocaine in New York. Photo / AP file

More than 200 bags of cocaine were found in the stomach and intestines of a Japanese passenger who died on a flight from Mexico to Japan last week, Mexican officials said today.

Authorities identified the man only as "Udo N'' and said he had travelled to Mexico's capital from Bogota, Colombia.

An autopsy revealed that the 42-year-old man had swallowed a total of 246 bags.

The man died on Saturday from cardiac arrest caused by a drug overdose, the law enforcement officials said.

The man took a flight from the Colombian capital Bogota to Mexico City, where he then boarded a flight to Japan.

The man complained of feeling ill shortly after take-off.

The prosecutor's office said other passengers reported seeing the man convulsing as the jetliner headed for Narita.

He was pronounced dead after the Aeromexico jet made an emergency landing at an airport in Sonora, northwestern Mexico.

The plastic bags were approximately 2.5cm long and 1cm wide.

- AP