"Drug Mule" busted on CT scans
- CT (Computer Tomography) plays a growing role in the global war on drug abuse, helping snag smugglers who conceal drugs inside their bodies. Some "drug mules" swallow drug packets with the idea of evacuating them later. Others stuff packets into body cavities.
- In any case, the contraband shows up more clearly on CT scans than in ordinary X -rays,
says Dr. Priscilla Flach, a radiologist at University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, and the author of a new study comparing the two imaging techniques.
- In this image, you can see drug packets lodged in a mule's colon who was caught recently smuggling cocaine through Swiss airports and train stations.
- Here's a guy who thought no one would notice the three packets of cocaine stuffed under his tongue. Guess he didn't know much about CT scans.
- In this color-enhanced scan, you can see a body "packer's" precious cargo: numerous packets of cocaine lodged in the large intestine.
- Here's a "packer" caught with loads of cocaine packets in his colon.
- Here's a mule who complained of abdominal pain - no wonder, says Dr. Flach, given the 100 packets of cocaine he had swallowed.
