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A Chilean man with a broken leg was arrested at Barcelona airport after his "cast" was found to be made of cocaine not plaster, Spanish police say.

The 66-year-old carried six cans of beer and two hollowed-out stools that also contained cocaine, they add.

The police statement said officers were investigating whether the injuries were inflicted intentionally "to facilitate trafficking through security checks".

Spain is a key entry point into Europe for cocaine from South America.

The country is one of the highest consumers of cocaine in Europe, studies have found.

Airport officials pay close attention to flights arriving from South America.

Operation

Spanish police said the Chilean had travelled from Santiago to Barcelona with a "plaster cast... entirely made from cocaine".

Police suspect the leg was deliberately broken to aid the smuggling

It was discovered after police sprayed the cast with a chemical that turns bright blue when it comes into contact with cocaine, police spokesman Jose Antonio Nin told the Associated Press.

Along with the cocaine in the cans and the small stools, he was carrying a total of 4.85kgs (10.7 pounds) of the drug.

X-rays had shown the man was suffering from an "open fracture of the tibia and the fibula, and has been transferred to a clinic for an operation", the police statement said.

"Investigators are examining the possibility that these injuries were brought about voluntarily... to facilitate trafficking through security checks".