Man who died during Aer Lingus flight had swallowed $63K worth of suspected cocaine

A 24-year-old Brazilian man who became aggressively violent, bit another passenger and then died during an Aer Lingus flight from Portugal to Ireland was carrying more than 80 pellets of a substance believed to be cocaine in his stomach. During a postmortem exam, pathologists discovered that the man, identified by the Irish Times as as John Kennedy Santos Gurjao, had ingested 0.8 grams of the substance. According to Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster, one of the wrapped pellets appeared to have ruptured, causing Santos Gurjao's death.

The substance inside the pellets has been collected for toxicology tests and, if it is identified as cocaine, the amount of the drug that Santos Gurjao had swallowed would have a street value of €56,000 ($63,600).

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According to the Irish Times, Irish police officers are investigating Santos Gurjao's movements and whereabouts before he boarded Aer Lingus Flight EI 485 and hope to determine when he swallowed the suspected drugs. The flight, which was bound for Dublin, had to be diverted to Cork, after Santos Gurjao became "ill and agitated" during the flight, violently shaking and biting a passenger who attempted to restrain him.

Santos Gurjao was eventually handcuffed by the flight crew. He then suffered a suspected seizure and collapsed. A doctor and two nurses on the flight performed CPR until the plane landed in Cork; Santos Gurjao was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

John Leonard, a passenger on the flight, told Cork radio station 96FM:

"He was actually on the ground shaking violently. The noise he was making was like something I have never heard before. It's not something you'd hear everyday. It was like deep anguish is the best way I could describe it, very, very troubled. Not screaming in a sense you know if you'd hurt yourself or something, just a very guttural, from deep within him."

Although officers believe Santos Gurjao was traveling alone, a 44-year-old woman was detained after passengers reported seeing her with the man in the Lisbon airport. The Irish Times reports that officers discovered 1.8 kg (4 lb) of a white powder in her luggage, but she insisted that it was baking soda. The powder was analyzed and it was, in fact, determined to be baking soda. The woman was reportedly questioned a second time on Monday night to determine if she knew Santos Gurjao.