A 25-year-old Maltese national was arrested yesterday at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport yesterday after a sniffer dog smelt his way through thousands of passengers straight to the smuggler's shoes.

The Maltese passenger had arrived at the airport from Istanbul, but it was not immediately clear whether he had been headed for a connecting flight to Malta.

Practically all sections of the Italian media were reporting the story yesterday and were praising the sharp nose of Lupin, an unlikely name for a police dog, considering his animated criminal namesake.

The same dog had also led police to a 40-year-old Nigerian passenger arriving from Tripoli yesterday.

Sketchy media reports emerging from Italy yesterday did not specify which drugs each passenger had been smuggling, nor the quantity being carried by the Maltese courier.

It was clear, however, that a total of three kilogrammes of cocaine and heroin were found in the two passengers’ shoes hidden between the rubber sole and the uppers.

The drugs were said to have been of an exceptionally pure quality and the three kilos – two of cocaine and one of heroin – would have translated into 10 kilogrammes on the street with a value of some EUR2 million.

The pair have been remanded in custody in Civitavecchia and have been charged with international drug trafficking.