A British pensioner has been arrested in Chile after allegedly attempting to smuggle five kilos of methamphetamine.
The 79-year-old flew in to Santiago from the Mexican city of Cancun, and was preparing to make his way to Australia.
But the unnamed man was detained after a scanner detected a ‘suspicious’ substance in his suitcase.
After a swift search, officers discovered a concealed compartment in his luggage where the drugs had been hidden.
Police estimate the methamphetamine would have been worth around £200,000 on Chilean streets.
Airport police chief Sergio Paredes said it was the first time the arrested man had entered Chile.
He said: ‘This person came from Mexico and when he was arrested and taken to the anti-narcotics squad’s airport offices, he said that the suitcase had been received by some Mexican nationals at Cancun airport.’
The man was due to spend a night in a hotel in the capital before boarding a flight to Sydney.
Paredes said police were still investigating whether the drugs were due to remain in Chile or be smuggled to Australia.
He told local press: ‘Prosecutors are looking into this and trying to establish whether the drug was for internal consumption or was due to be transported by this British national to Australia.’
Chilean customs officers released pictures of the four packages they had confiscated, saying: ‘Customs officials intercepted a foreign citizen with more than five of kilos of methamphetamines hidden in a secret compartment in his luggage at Santiago Airport.
‘He was stopped after his luggage was scanned and has been remanded in custody.’
The bust is the latest in a series of similar recent apprehensions around the world involving British nationals, although most have been far younger than the man held in Chile.
Last week, a 23-year-old British woman in Ghana was arrested after being accused of attempting to bring up to 18kg of cannabis into the UK on a May 18 British Airways flight to Gatwick.
It is claimed Browne-Frater Chyna Jada had 32 slabs of drugs in her bag, with a street value of around £170,000.
Separately, Bella May Culley sparked a massive international search operation in early May after she was reported missing while she was believed to be holidaying in Thailand.
But it was later revealed that the 18-year-old from Billingham, Durham, had been arrested 4,000 miles away on drug offences in Georgia, allegedly carrying 14 kilos of cannabis.
And recently 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, from Coulsdon, south London, was arrested in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo after police discovered 46 kilos of ‘Kush’ – a synthetic strain of cannabis – in her suitcase.
The former flight attendant, facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, is claiming she had ‘no idea’ about the drugs and insisting they must have been planted in her luggage without her knowledge.
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