Dirty money: Woman caught at airport with $80k hidden in stomach and 'private parts'

A fashion designer was arrested at an airport in Colombia with at least $80,000 (£52,000) hidden in latex-covered capsules inside her body, NTN24 reported.

The unnamed 39-year-old arrived at the capital’s El Dorado airport on a flight from Mexico on Saturday with 46 of the capsules in her stomach and 14 in her "private parts".

She had also hidden some cash inside sanitary pads in her suitcase.

Scanners picked up the capsules and she was taken to a hospital, where she remains because she has been unable to expel the final six capsules, General Gustavo Moreno, head of the customs police, said.

Colombia supplies around 90% of the cocaine consumed in the US and drug mules often swallow small capsules of cocaine.

However, it is much rarer to find people using the tactic to smuggle cash in excess of the $10,000 legal limit.

Moreno said instances have increased recently because the strength of the US dollar encourages drug criminals to repatriate profits.

Last week five people travelling from the Dominican Republic were arrested carrying more than $1 million in cash hidden in false-bottom luggage.