An African man has been arrested at the Beijing Airport after customs officials discovered he had swallowed 70 large capsules full of heroin.

Police say they became suspicious of 27-year-old Odili Christopher Okwuji, when he arrived in Beijing with no luggage and changed his story about visiting China. Police took Xrays and discovered Okwuji had swallowed the 2-cm-long capsules, which contained 700 grams of heroin.

Police say Okwuji later confessed that he had swallowed the drugs three days earlier and had not eaten since, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

Customs officials would not reveal from which country Okwuji traveled from nor his nationality.

The heroin has a purity of 85.9%, customs officials believe it was destined Guangzhou.

Officials say it is the first drug trafficking case busted by the Beijing Customs this year, and the third time customs has discovered a trafficker who swallowed drugs to escape detection.

Police say Okwuji also confessed that he had successfully smuggled 50 drug-filled capsules into China in June. They say he earned US$1,700 as a drug mule.

China's police have cracked 52,500 drug trafficking cases from January 2005 to April 2006, reported the Ministry of Public Security in July.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2006)