Athens - A Greek-Lebanese man who apparently swallowed heroin-filled capsules in a smuggling attempt is in hospital in Greece after many of the capsules burst in his stomach, reports said Monday.

Reports said the 43-year-old man swallowed more than half a kilogram of the drug and ended up fainting shortly after arriving at Athens International Airport on a flight from Beirut along with his wife.

Doctors were forced to surgically remove the more than 93 capsules in his stomach which contained a total of 520 grams of heroin. (dpa)