A man was arrested at Paphos airport after it emerged he had swallowed cocaine to smuggle it into Cyprus, police said on Saturday.
Just before 4pm on Friday afternoon, following a tip off, police officers at the airport searched the bags of a 52-year-old third country national who had arrived at the airport from another European country.
During police checks it became evident he had packages of cocaine on his body, after swallowing them.
The man was taken to Paphos general hospital for medical examinations where he was detained.
Police said around 70 packages of cocaine, weighing about 1kg, were inside his body.
Shortly after arriving at hospital he expelled five packages with a total weight of about 80g.
He was arrested as a case of illegal importation of drugs, illegal possession of drugs, and illegal possession of drugs for the purpose of supply to another person was launched.
The 52-year-old remains in hospital under police guard.