A man in Colombia has been arrested for trying to smuggle thousands of dollars inside his stomach.

Police decided to x-ray the suspect because he was acting nervously while waiting to go through airport security.

The scan revealed 80 latex packets made from surgical gloves crammed inside his stomach.

Police assumed they had nabbed another drug runner.

But as Johnny Chilito passed the packages through his body, police realised the packets were filled with $40,000 worth of US dollars.

Police colonel Jorge Luis Vargas said: "We find drugs inside the stomachs of smugglers all the time, but this is the first time we've ever found dollars."

Colombian authorities recently introduced new anti-money laundering laws that make it more difficult for drug traffickers to transfer money through banks and other conventional means.

These new laws are forcing money launderers to adopt the same methods used to smuggle drugs in order to send large amounts of cash.

Mr Vargas said interrogations of Chilito, who was caught boarding an Avianca flight to Lima, Peru, indicated the money was probably going to be used to pay for a heroin shipment destined for the United States.

Chilito, who was in his 20s, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of money laundering.