Smuggled heroin. Endoscope view of 13 bags of heroin removed from a smuggler's colon (large intestine). The heroin is wrapped in plastic tape and each bundle is around 2.5 centimetres long. Heroin is an illegal opium-derived drug which is highly addictive. It commands a high price and is the basis for a lucrative black market. Smugglers often put themselves in great danger to import the drug. One of these packets burst inside this man's colon, causing him to lapse into a coma and stop breathing. After resuscitation the packets were discovered on an X-ray.