Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian airport police have detained an Indian national after they found 46 bags of the drug ketamine hidden inside a television set, a news report said Thursday.

The 32-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after customs officers at Kuching International Airport in Malaysia's eastern state of Sarawak discovered drugs during a routine inspection, department director Rusmani Abdul Sukur said.

The officers found 7 kilograms of ketamine, an animal tranquilizer-turned-party drug, worth 245,000 ringgit (65,860 dollars) stuffed into the television casing, Rusmani was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily.

Authorities found it suspicious that a visitor from India would lug a television set to the state and conducted a check, he said.

The suspect, who had departed from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday, was being detained to facilitate investigations into a possible international drug ring.

"We believe the man was not acting alone," Rusmani said. "We do not rule out the possibility that he could be part of a drug syndicate."

Malaysia's tough drug laws prescribe a mandatory death sentence by hanging for those found guilty of smuggling or distributing most types of drugs. (dpa)