PROFESSOR DIES AFTER INGESTING COCAINE

DETROIT (AP) - A Wayne State University law professor described as a
brilliant scholar died in Canada, where doctors surgically removed a dozen
cocaine-filled balloons from his body after he became ill on a
trans-Atlantic flight, authorities said

Gennady M. Danilenko died Wednesday in Newfoundland. Danilenko, 45, was on
Northwest Airlines Flight 47 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Sunday when he
was stricken with what was originally thought to be a heart attack.

The flight was diverted to Goose Bay, Newfoundland, where doctors performed
emergency surgery and discovered the drugs. The substance was confirmed to
be cocaine, Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Susan Feld said.

DEA agents searched Danilenko's home in Ann Arbor on Thursday and found
nothing significant, Feld said.

"It's kind of bizarre that a person with his degrees and his status would
be smuggling like this," Feld said. "We searched his home and didn't find
any records or anything we could use." The case could be closed if no one
comes forward, she said.

FBI agents in Detroit were beginning an investigation.

Joan Mahoney, dean of the Wayne State law school, said she was surprised by
the reports that Danilenko may have been smuggling drugs.

"He's a law professor, and a very reputable law professor, who's an
excellent teacher and a brilliant scholar," she said.

Danilenko had taught his scheduled classes last week, Mahoney said. No one
accompanied him in Canada, Cpl. Trudy McCabe of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police said.

An autopsy will be performed, McCabe said. She had no information on
whether any of the packets had burst.

Northwest Airlines spokeswoman Kathy Peach said she had no details about
the incident.

According to Wayne State's Web site, Danilenko joined the faculty in 1997
and had served as head of the Center for International Law at the Russian
Academy of Sciences.

Danilenko had been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law
School, specializing in Russian law. He had also taught at the University
of California-Berkeley and the University of San Diego.