Imaging of drug mules.

Abstract

Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and hashish are the primary drugs transported by a body packer, who swallows such packages. A body pusher or stuffer transports drug packages in rectum or vagina. Plain radiography is the primary imaging modality used in the evaluation of concealed drugs and has sensitivity of 85-90%. The imaging features include well-defined opacities in the bowel with crescents of air near ovoid opacities. The imaging signs include double condom sign, halo sign, parallelism sign, and tic tac sign. A low-dose CT is an efficient noninvasive and accurate technique of locating packages internally for all types of concealment.