Thai Drug Suspect Swallows the Goods

A Thai man whose flight was delayed by a labor dispute was found to have swallowed 100 condoms filled with 700 grams of heroin, police said Monday.

The man had been forced to make an unscheduled stop in Brisbane when his Singapore-to-Sydney flight was blocked April 11 by an overtime ban by air traffic controllers. Customs officers noticed that the man, 37, looked nervous, and they alerted colleagues in Sydney, where the heroin was found during a hospital examination.

The man, who was not named by police, has since passed all the condoms and will appear in court later this week charged with smuggling a prohibited import, the spokesman said. The airport labor dispute has been resolved, Australian aviation officials said Monday.