A 53-year-old man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Monday by the Paphos criminal court for smuggling and possessing cocaine.

He was also found guilty of laundering money from illegal activities.

The man was arrested at Paphos airport on April 18. Authorities discovered he had swallowed 72 small packages of cocaine. The total weight of the drugs was about 1kg.

Police said the suspect, a third country national, had arrived from a European country. He was stopped after intelligence suggested he might be carrying drugs.

During questioning, the man admitted to authorities that he was transporting cocaine inside his body.

He was immediately taken to Paphos general hospital for medical observation under guard.

The court found that he had intentionally ingested the cocaine to smuggle it into the country.