When police arrested Father Georges Saliba they thought he was an impostor using the sanctity of the cloth to escape detection.
With 11.5 kg of cocaine strapped to the inside of his cassock, they instantly dismissed the 47-year-old's claims that he was a Catholic priest. But it was revealed last week that the drug mule is in fact a real priest who regularly celebrates Mass in Sao Paulo, Latin America's biggest city.
Gen Gilberto Tadeu Vieira Cezar, chief of Sao Paulo's federal police, said: "Father Saliba was on his way to Portugal when officers arrested him at the international airport. He was carrying cocaine which was divided into small bags and strapped to the inside of his religious clothing."
The Lebanese priest, who moved to Brazil 19 years ago, has admitted to regular drug running between Brazil and Europe. In the past year alone he has made four trips smuggling narcotics and has collected more than $120,000 for his work. However, he insists that this money is immediately re-directed to needy causes in his diocese.
After the priest's arrest, officers searching his house - which Father Saliba shares with his mother - discovered photographs of him kissing a woman.
They identified her as a sales clerk, Ms Marilia Cassia Teixeira (29), and arrested her as an accessory to the crime. "We went to her house and found her trying to make a midnight getaway in her little Citroen," said Gen Cezar. "Her car was packed with stuff. She had two clean priest's cassocks in her suitcase along with several plane tickets in her handbag. They were for a variety of international destinations including Amsterdam, Berlin and Milan. One was in her name, the other in Saliba's."
But Ms Teixeira, who is seven months pregnant, insists she and the priest are "just good friends" and has denied all involvement with his narcotic smuggling.
At the Santo Antonio Church, where Father Saliba worked, parishioners expressed their disgust at the revelations. Mr Jose Darcy, a regular worshipper, said: "He arrived, prayed and left. He didn't make friends with anyone and he didn't get involved in any of our church projects."
Another, Ms Teresa Simioni, said: "The name of this church has been brought into disrepute. After all our work with the youth, telling them not to take drugs, how can a man of the cloth do something like this?"
Police have revealed that Father Saliba already has a record for drug running. Nine years ago he was arrested in Australia with 2 kg of heroin hidden in a secret compartment of his suitcase.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Churches of Sao Paulo said: "I would like to distance the Catholic Church from this man. His behaviour horrifies us all."
The spokesman added that the Church had no idea why they had never been notified of his previous conviction for drug running in Australia. "We are initiating an internal inquiry," he said.