Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background Body packers use different methods and materials to pack drugs inside their bodies. These could be simple or sophisticated to ensure a successful transfer or concealment of the drug with minimal risk to the packer. Different drugs were reported with cocaine and heroin being the m...

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Autores principales:	Dalia Alsaif, Salah Ali Almoghannam, Osama M. Almadani, Magdi Kharoshah
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Body packer Amphetamine Cannabis Postmortem redistribution Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 Medicine (General) R5-920
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3fdeaca45d2a4911ab21033214871387
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3fdeaca45d2a4911ab210332148713872021-12-05T12:07:51ZFatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia10.1186/s41935-021-00257-z2090-5939https://doaj.org/article/3fdeaca45d2a4911ab210332148713872021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s41935-021-00257-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2090-5939Abstract Background Body packers use different methods and materials to pack drugs inside their bodies. These could be simple or sophisticated to ensure a successful transfer or concealment of the drug with minimal risk to the packer. Different drugs were reported with cocaine and heroin being the most common. The packer presents to health facilities whenever they develop complications like drug leakage or intestinal obstruction, or they can be detected after a fatal event as an incidental finding in autopsy. Case presentation A body packer who was in detention suffered pain and died shortly after that. The autopsy not only revealed severe coronary atherosclerosis but also unveiled 10 rubber packages filled with methamphetamine and cannabis, and one package was found ruptured in the mouth. Toxicological analysis showed a blood level of methamphetamine 3.66 mg/L which was considered a cause of death. While methamphetamine was reported in cases of body packers, cannabis is rarely concealed by body packers for several reasons including its cost compared to the risk of packing. Conclusions This is the first reported case of fatality in body packers in Saudi Arabia and Arab countries. This should put into consideration the need for screening suspicious cases who are involved or suspected to be involved with drugs. Effective screening in specific facilities is needed to reduce fatalities and at the same time lowering drug smuggling.Dalia AlsaifSalah Ali AlmoghannamOsama M. AlmadaniMagdi KharoshahSpringerOpenarticleBody packerAmphetamineCannabisPostmortem redistributionLaw in general. Comparative and uniform law. JurisprudenceK1-7720Medicine (General)R5-920ENEgyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Body packer Amphetamine Cannabis Postmortem redistribution Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 Medicine (General) R5-920
spellingShingle	Body packer Amphetamine Cannabis Postmortem redistribution Law in general. Comparative and uniform law. Jurisprudence K1-7720 Medicine (General) R5-920 Dalia Alsaif Salah Ali Almoghannam Osama M. Almadani Magdi Kharoshah Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
description	Abstract Background Body packers use different methods and materials to pack drugs inside their bodies. These could be simple or sophisticated to ensure a successful transfer or concealment of the drug with minimal risk to the packer. Different drugs were reported with cocaine and heroin being the most common. The packer presents to health facilities whenever they develop complications like drug leakage or intestinal obstruction, or they can be detected after a fatal event as an incidental finding in autopsy. Case presentation A body packer who was in detention suffered pain and died shortly after that. The autopsy not only revealed severe coronary atherosclerosis but also unveiled 10 rubber packages filled with methamphetamine and cannabis, and one package was found ruptured in the mouth. Toxicological analysis showed a blood level of methamphetamine 3.66 mg/L which was considered a cause of death. While methamphetamine was reported in cases of body packers, cannabis is rarely concealed by body packers for several reasons including its cost compared to the risk of packing. Conclusions This is the first reported case of fatality in body packers in Saudi Arabia and Arab countries. This should put into consideration the need for screening suspicious cases who are involved or suspected to be involved with drugs. Effective screening in specific facilities is needed to reduce fatalities and at the same time lowering drug smuggling.
format	article
author	Dalia Alsaif Salah Ali Almoghannam Osama M. Almadani Magdi Kharoshah
author_facet	Dalia Alsaif Salah Ali Almoghannam Osama M. Almadani Magdi Kharoshah
author_sort	Dalia Alsaif
title	Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
title_short	Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
title_full	Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr	Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed	Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia
title_sort	fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in saudi arabia
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3fdeaca45d2a4911ab21033214871387
work_keys_str_mv	AT daliaalsaif fatalityinabodypackerthefirstreportedcaseinsaudiarabia AT salahalialmoghannam fatalityinabodypackerthefirstreportedcaseinsaudiarabia AT osamamalmadani fatalityinabodypackerthefirstreportedcaseinsaudiarabia AT magdikharoshah fatalityinabodypackerthefirstreportedcaseinsaudiarabia
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Fatality in a body packer: the first reported case in Saudi Arabia

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