The 49-year-old owner of a street kiosk in the central town of Larissa died of a drug overdose after swallowing quantities of heroin and cocaine in order to avoid arrest, police said yesterday.

The man, who is believed to have been selling narcotics to local addicts from his kiosk, gulped down an unspecified quantity of the drugs when he spotted a group of police officers approaching his kiosk. It appears that the man had wanted to get rid of any evidence connecting him with drug dealing to avoid being charged, officers said.

It was unclear how much cocaine and heroin the 49-year-old had been storing in his kiosk and how much he consumed in his act of desperation.

Police also arrested the man's 39-year-old partner, though it was unclear if she would face drug dealing charges.