ST JAMES, Jamaica - Two British nationals were arrested in separate incidents at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James on Saturday after cocaine was found in their luggage.

The men, a 37-year-old construction director from Birmingham and a 59-year-old retired staff nurse from West Bromwich, both in England, were about to board separate flights when the drugs were found.

In the first incident, it was reported that around 1:45 pm, the construction director checked in on a TUI flight destined for Birmingham. His suitcase and a knapsack were searched at the security checkpoint and found to contain five parcels in false compartments.

When the parcels were retrieved, they were found to contain a white powdery substance resembling cocaine. The potential exhibits were seized and handed over to the airport police for safekeeping.

Police said the weight of the substance was five kilograms (11 pounds).

In the second incident, almost three hours later, around 4:20 pm, the retired nurse checked in to board a Thomson Airline flight to Birmingham when a black suitcase he carried was x-rayed at the security checkpoint and anomalies seen.

A further search of the luggage revealed a false compartment made from a metal pallet containing a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, weighing about five pounds.

His checked luggage was retrieved, examined, and found to contain a metal pallet inside, with a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine weighing about six pounds.

Both men were detained on reasonable suspicion of breaches of the Dangerous Drugs Act, pending further investigations.