A 79-year-old British man has been arrested in Chile after allegedly attempting to smuggle more than five kilograms of methamphetamine through Santiago International Airport.
Authorities say the pensioner had flown into the Chilean capital from Cancun, Mexico, and was en route to Australia when he was detained at the airport.
The alarm was raised after security scanners flagged a suspicious substance inside the man’s suitcase, prompting a thorough inspection by anti-narcotics officers.
A concealed compartment was reportedly found in the luggage, where four packages containing methamphetamine were hidden. Officials estimate the drugs have a street value of around £200,000 in Chile.
Sergio Paredes, head of the airport’s police division, confirmed this was the man’s first recorded entry into the country and that an investigation is underway.
“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,” Mr Paredes told reporters.
The suspect had reportedly planned to spend the night at a hotel in Santiago before continuing to Sydney.
Authorities are now investigating whether the drugs were intended for local distribution in Chile or if the British national was attempting to smuggle them into Australia.
Prosecutors are said to be probing the matter, with Mr Paredes adding: “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 released images of the seized packages and confirmed the arrest in a statement.
“Customs officials intercepted a foreign citizen with more than five kilos of methamphetamines hidden in a secret compartment in his luggage at Santiago Airport,” the statement read.
“He was stopped after his luggage was scanned and has been remanded in custody.”
This arrest is the latest in a spate of drug-related detentions involving British nationals overseas, although most suspects in recent cases have been significantly younger.
Just last week, a 23-year-old British woman was arrested in Ghana after allegedly attempting to bring 18kg of cannabis into the UK aboard a British Airways flight to Gatwick.
In a separate case earlier this month, 18-year-old Bella May Culley from Durham was found to be in custody in Georgia after she was reported missing while supposedly holidaying in Thailand. Authorities say she was caught with 14kg of cannabis.
And in Sri Lanka, 21-year-old Charlotte Lee May, a former flight attendant from south London, was arrested in Colombo after police allegedly found 46kg of Kush – a potent synthetic cannabis – in her suitcase. She has denied any knowledge of the drugs and claims they were planted.
