A Japanese man died on board a flight from Mexico City to Tokyo with 246 packets of cocaine in his stomach.

Identified only as Udo N., the 42-year-old passenger flew from Bogota, Colombia, to the Mexican capital, where he transferred to a flight to Narita airport, Tokyo, according to a statement from the prosecutor's office for the Mexican state of Sonora.

"Crew noticed a person suffering convulsions and requested to make an emergency landing in Hermosillo, Sonora," reads the statement.

At 2.25 a.m. local time (5.25 a.m. ET) on May 24, paramedics boarded the plane and found the passenger had died.

An autopsy revealed that Udo N. died from a cerebral edema caused by an overdose, according to the statement.

There were 246 plastic packets of cocaine in his stomach and intestines, measuring 1 by 2.5 centimeters each.

After his body was removed from the plane the flight continued its journey to Japan with 198 passengers on board.

Swallowing packets of drugs is a common way that smugglers try to move illicit substances from country to country.

In September 2016 a 48-year-old Australian man was caught with 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) of cocaine in his stomach at Sydney Airport, Australia.

The man, who lives in Thailand, had passed a baggage examination when he told police he had ingested a large number of packets filled with cocaine. (CNN)