Body packing is an international problem in which people smuggle drugs hidden in the gastrointestinal tract after swallowing, across international borders. This way of transportation can have serious medical complications, including gastrointestinal obstruction by the foreign bodies or drug intoxication. We describe three cases of adult bodypackers as well as our management of these patients. Introduction The smuggling of drugs by internal bodily concealment is an increasing international problem. It was first reported in 1975 by Mebanex et al.. Bodypackers are drug smugglers who swallow drug filled condoms or latex multilayer packages in order to conceal them during air travel1,2. Case History Case 1: A 39 year old man presented to the ER with complaints of pain in the abdomen after ingestion of, according to the patient, 80-100 packages filled with cocaine, one day earlier before flying in from the Caribbean. He complained of nausea and had vomited once. He had not passed any stool or package. On examination he had a distended left upper abdomen without peritoneal involvement. He was hemodynamic stable and showed no signs of cocaine intoxication. Laboratory values were normal.A plain X-ray of the abdomen was performed showing more than 30 foreign bodies in the stomach without signs of perforation (Fig.1). Based on these findings the diagnosis of asymptomatic body packing was made. Patient was admitted to the ward and under close supervision treatment with sorbitol 70% and oral fluids was installed. After 48 hours there was no progression of the case. A CT of the abdomen was performed which showed multiple foreign bodies still within the stomach with a significant distension of the antrum (Fig.2).
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