Case Report: Don’t chew the fufu: a case report of suspected drug bodystuffing

Abstract

Background: Intrabody concealment of illicit substances is a common practice in the trafficking chain. Bodystuffing, which consists of precipitously swallowing packets of substances for concealment from law-enforcement officers in anticipation of impending search or arrest, is particularly dangerous. There is a risk of rupture of the loosely wrapped drug packets, which could lead to substance intoxication or even death. Case presentation: This article reports the case of a young man who was taken by law enforcement authorities to our Emergency Department for investigation of bodystuffing. Although the patient denied the facts, the initial reading of the computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the presence of multiple images compatible with drug packets, which were mostly in the stomach. Upon admission to our secured inpatient ward for clinical surveillance of packet evacuation, the patient denied again having ingested such packets, and declared that he only ate ‘fufu’. Fufu is a traditional food of central and western Africa consisting of a starchy preparation compacted by hand into small balls. Fufu balls are usually swallowed without chewing to allow a sensation of stomach fullness throughout the day. Considering the fufu intake history, a careful reassessment of the imaging confirmed the presence of food content. Conclusions: This case study offers an example of bodystuffing false positive due to fufu. It illustrates the importance of a history of food intake that could bias the interpretation of CT scan images.