The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) recovered one kilogramme of heroin from a passenger at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, officials said Friday.

ANF officials said the passenger, Irfan Masih, was set to board an Airblue flight for Abu Dhabi on Thursday night when the drug was recovered from his handbag during checking at the immigration counter.

Masih, who hails from Nankana Sahib, denied he had any knowledge about the presence of heroin in his bag.

The suspect was arrested and shifted to ANF headquarters. A First Information Report (FIR) was later registered against him under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act.

According to officials, the suspect will be presented before a local magistrate on Saturday to seek his physical remand to hold an inquiry into where he was travelling to with the drugs.

The incident comes as several cases have emerged of narcotics being recovered from flights originating from Pakistan.

On May 22, some 20kg heroin was recovered from a London-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight at Islamabad Airport.

A week earlier, British officials had found a "quantity of heroin" on the same flight, but in a different aircraft, after it landed at London's Heathrow Airport.

After the second heroin bust in a week, ANF officials have searched several planes for drugs before their departure from Pakistani airports.