Eventually, [Robert J. Ward] would pull four condoms from the unidentified man's rectum. As of late Friday, about 10 more condoms remained inside the man's intestines. In all, Ward estimated that the man carried more than a pound of the white powdery substance in his digestive tract.

The four packages were handed over to Nassau County police, hospital officials said. Drug Enforcement Administration officials confirmed that the white substance found in the condoms was cocaine. They also said that earlier reports claiming two other passengers who died in the crash were also smuggling cocaine were incorrect. DEA spokeswoman Mary Cooper said drug smugglers often try to conceal up to a pound of cocaine in condoms, by swallowing and then excreting it, or concealing it in body orifices. "There have been instances where we have arrested people and then waited at a hospital for them to excrete (the bags)," Cooper said.