Sudden, unexpected death of a cannabis bodypacker, due to perforation of the rectum.

A forty year old cannabis bodypacker was found dead in his flat in November 2000, two days after arriving back from a trip to Northern India. On his return he had complained to his family of feeling unwell, although he had refused to let them in or accept medical help. At post-mortem he was found to have 55 packages of cannabis resin in the large intestine, wrapped in cellophane. Subsequent search of the flat by the police revealed the presence of a further 133 similar packages in the fridge, suggesting that he had concealed 188 packages in total. The cause of death was given as peritonitis due to perforation of the distal large intestine caused by swallowing the packages.