About 200 sedated canaries, some alive and others dead, were allegedly discovered stuffed in a Libyan man's jacket and in his bag as he tried to smuggle them out on a flight to Tripoli.

The find was made last week by airport security officers as the man was preparing to leave the island.

"They were sedated with what smelt like lighter liquid," Animal Welfare Department director Mario Spiteri said. He said the birds were in a very bad state when they were found and quite a few of them had died.

The popular songbirds were put in groups of about five in small pouches and then stuffed into the man's hand luggage and jacket pockets, running the risk of squashing the fragile birds.

This was not the first time someone had been caught trying to smuggle birds to Libya. A spokesman for the Malta International Airport said security officials were coming across these cases about twice a week.

"Some birds are found alive, others dead," she said, adding that those which were still alive were donated to Razzett tal-Ħbiberija. The airport security department has been in contact with the Animal Welfare Department to establish the best way forward to prevent such cruelty to animals.

Dr Spiteri said this was a blatant case of animal cruelty, adding the department was planning to introduce legislation that would see people caught trying to smuggle animals fined on the spot.

For the time being, people caught attempting to smuggle birds can be charged with animal cruelty.