Man caught at airport with half a kilo of cocaine hidden under his toupee

An airline passenger was caught with half a kilogram of cocaine hidden under his toupee, say Spanish police.

The Colombian man was stopped at Barcelona’s international airport when he arrived on a flight from Bogota.

Officers noticed he looked nervous and became suspicious about the “disproportionate size" of his wig.

When they removed the black hairpiece, they found a package stuck to his head.

Tests revealed it contained 503g cocaine valued at around €30,000 (£27,000).

The suspect, who has not been named by police, was arrested following the search last month.

“There is no limit to the inventiveness of drug traffickers trying to mock controls,” the police said in a statement.

Photos of the man showed him wearing the ill-fitting wig and then after it had been removed to reveal the drugs.

He has been charged with a crime against public health, according to police.

More than 100 kilos of cocaine were seized by Spanish police at the Barcelona-El Prat airport last year.

Additional reporting by Reuters