Death of Serb man on Corfu due to packets of drugs in his stomach, coroner reports

The sudden death of a 44-year-old Serb man on holiday in South Corfu was a result of intestinal obstruction caused by packets of drugs in his stomach, a coroner reported on Sunday.

The 44-year-old, who was found dead in the house where he was living on August 7, had five packets containing a white powder in his stomach, coroner Ioannis Aivatidis told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

The coroner said the five plastic packets, possibly containing cocaine, weighed 83 grammes. His findings also indicate that there were more drugs in the 44-year-old's digestive system that had already passed through.

The plastic packaging was not fully sealed when he swallowed them, so that the packets became enlarged after they were swallowed and led to an intestinal obstruction and the inhalation of gastric juices into the lungs," he said.

The findings overturn the original assumption that the 44-year-old had died suddenly of natural causes. The coroner informed the police authorities, who confiscated the five packets of drugs and the case has been taken over by the drugs squad.

AMNA