Body packing

X-ray of the abdomen of a drug courier showing several capsules swallowed

German customs officer with seized cocaine drug containers (so-called body packs)

As Bodypacking swallowing is drugs designated for the purpose of transportation. Bodypushing describes the introduction of the containers into body orifices , especially in the excretory tract ( rectum , colostomy ) and in the vagina . The drugs are packed in saliva and gastric acid-resistant bags (mostly plastic, often condoms).

Medical aspects

There is a great risk to the life of the body packer if one of the packages bursts. The toxic active ingredients of the drug can escape and be absorbed through the mucous membranes. The parcel is detected by an X-ray overview of the abdomen and by sonography . Endoscopic rescue is possible in special cases. Surgical intervention to remove the containers ( laparotomy ) is performed when the container is torn or when the chance of tearing is considered high.

Law enforcement aspects

To ensure that the drugs have been swallowed (for later use as evidence against the accused), the accused either uses emetics or controls the excretions (which can be accelerated by laxatives ). The elimination control can fail due to the length of the necessary deprivation of liberty for the accused. The only measure left is the use of emetics , which is very controversial (violation of human dignity , violation of the proportionality and nemo tenetur principles ).

Germany

The use of emetics in Germany was based on Section 81a of the Code of Criminal Procedure . With a decision of the European Court of Human Rights on July 11, 2006, such measures were declared incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights . In about 65% of the emetic operations carried out in Hamburg (272 operations from August 2001 to July 2003), drugs could be seized. Deaths in connection with the use of emetics have become known from Bremen and Hamburg.

literature

• James R. Roberts, Dennis Price, Lewis Goldfrank, Lorraine Hartnett: The bodystuffer syndrome: a clandestine form of drug overdose. In: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Vol. 4, No. 1, 1986, ISSN  0735-6757 , pp. 24-27, PMID 3947429 .

Web links

• Information center against poisoning of the University of Bonn: cocaine intoxication.
• J. Kelly, M. Corrigan, RA Cahill, HP Redmond: Contemporary management of drug-packers. In: World Journal of Emergency Surgery. Vol. 2, 9, April 2007, ISSN  1749-7922 , PMID 17448234 .
• Benjamin M. Walter, M. Martignoni, J. Säckl, N. Felgenhauer, F. Eyer, V. Tratzl, RM Schmid, S. von Delius: A curious case of body packing: impaction of cocaine capsules in a colostomy exit. In: Forensic Toxicology . Vol. 30, No. 2, 2012, pp. 199-201, doi : 10.1007 / s11419-012-0139-4 .
• Stephen J. Traub, Robert S. Hoffman, Lewis S. Nelson: Body Packing - The Internal Concealment of Illicit Drugs. In: The New England Journal of Medicine . Vol. 349, No. 26, 2003, ISSN  0028-4793 , pp. 2519-2526, doi : 10.1056 / NEJMra022719 .

See also

• Foreign bodies in the anus and rectum

Individual evidence

1. ^ Benjamin M. Walter, M. Martignoni, J. Säckl, N. Felgenhauer, F. Eyer, V. Tratzl, RM Schmid, S. Delius: A curious case of body packing: impaction of cocaine capsules in a colostomy exit. In: Forensic Toxicology. 30, 2012, pp. 199-201, doi : 10.1007 / s11419-012-0139-4 .
2. ↑ Individual complaint No. 54810/00
3. ↑ Summary of the article "Two years of emetics in Hamburg" (Kriminalistik 2004, p. 678 ff.)
4. ↑ Police doctor acquitted after using emetics. Die Welt , June 14, 2011, accessed on May 23, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Kai von Appen: The death of Achidi John. taz , April 30, 2010, accessed May 22, 2016 . 

Please note the information on legal issues!