A drug trafficker who swallowed more than 50 packages of cocaine was seized by customs police when he told them he had a stomach ache.

The smuggler had arrived at Germany’s Stuttgart Airport on a flight from Portugal and was singled out for a search.

But as customs officers talked to him he told them he had an agonising pain in his abdomen.

Officials eventually recovered 500 grammes (1.1 lbs) of cocaine from him during the incident last month (December).

Stuttgart Customs spokesperson Ms Roehm told Newsflash: “When leaving the baggage claim hall, the man was approached by the customs officers who asked to check him.

“Here the man, who had travelled to Stuttgart on a plane from Portugal, said when asked several times that he had pain in his abdomen.

“It turned out that the man was transporting narcotics and was a so-called body packer.”

Body packers swallow or stuff sealed packages of illicit drugs to get through customs undetected.

Police took the suspect man to a hospital in Esslingen am Neckar, in Stuttgart, where he was watched as he poo-ed out the drugs.

Ms Roehm added: “The drugs were confiscated.”

At the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Stuttgart District Court issued an arrest warrant against the smuggler, who was arrested and is currently in custody.