MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican police conducting random airport searches throughout the week detained 56 passengers on flights bound for US and UK destinations transporting a total of 2,500 pellets of cocaine, police said yesterday.

Over 100 people were randomly taken off flights at the Sangster Airport in Montego Bay and the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston since Sunday, chief of the narcotics division, Gladstone Wright said.

He said police took passengers to the hospital and upon examination, 56 were found with cocaine in their body cavities. Police said all were from Jamaica. No other details were available.

The detained are expected to go to court next week.

This island of 2.6 million is considered one of the major drug transshipment points in the Caribbean, along with Haiti.

Customs officials estimate that 10-15 per cent of cocaine on British streets had been smuggled from Jamaica. British officials here say Jamaicans are being tempted by payments of up to US$5,000 for carrying drugs into Britain.