JOHANNESBURG – A worker at a South African jewellery retailer was arrested this week for trying to smuggle gold from his workplace by stuffing it into a cooked chicken, according to local media.

The worker was nabbed with the chicken after a metal detector went off as he went through a security point at the diamond retailer's central office situated in Johannesburg's leafy northern suburbs, said Beeld newspaper.

He has appeared in court on charges of attempted theft and possession of allegedly stolen goods.

The amount of gold that was inside the chicken is unknown.