Mexican prosecutors say a Japanese man who died aboard an airliner shortly after takeoff from Mexico City had ingested 246 packets of cocaine and went into cardiac arrest from a drug overdose.

Sunday's statement was issued by the attorney general's office for the northern state of Sonora, where an autopsy was performed following an emergency stop by the Aeromexico flight in Hermosillo.

The prosecutor's office says other passengers reported seeing the man convulsing in the early hours of Friday as the jetliner headed for Narita, Japan.