Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a man for allegedly smuggling gold bars (not pictured) in his rectum.

Officers apprehended the 42-year-old man after noticing that he was “walking suspiciously”, a customs spokesman told the BBC.

Spokesman Leslie Gamini told the BBC that 400g of gold, worth around £9,351, had been found inside the suspect’s rectal cavity at Bandaranaike International Airport.

Sri Lanka's The Nation newspaper reports that he gold had been in the form of "four slabs".

The man, who had been “finding it hard to walk”, said he worked for a Sri Lankan government ministry, which has not been confirmed.

Officials said that over 70 people had been arrested this year for smuggling gold, typically bought cheaply by smugglers in Dubai or Singapore, before selling it on in India.