Police have arrested one of the passengers from the helicopter that landed on a crowded beach in Spetses, after an off-duty officer saw him discarding a small bag of drugs.

The man, a 39-year-old Greek national identified by the initials H.S., was found to be carrying half a gram of cocaine and five grams of hashish. He is expected to be released, according to reports. A foreign woman who was travelling with him in the helicopter has not been implicated.

Authorities are now examining both the drugs case and the circumstances of the landing itself. The helicopter had departed from Keratea, on the Attica coast, before touching down on Zogeria beach on Spetses, an island in the Saronic Gulf, while swimmers were in the water nearby.

Mystery still surrounds why the aircraft ended up there. According to protothema.gr, the German pilot claimed he had been unable to land at the island’s helipad because a moped was blocking it, and chose the beach instead.

The Piraeus prosecutor’s office has requested the police’s preliminary investigation file but has not pressed charges. Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Dimas told protothema.gr that the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority was investigating the incident. The mayor of Spetses described the landing as extremely dangerous and called for the island to be given a safe, dedicated heliport.

Police and the Hellenic Coast Guard rushed to the scene after the landing. The two passengers had reportedly been expecting to board a yacht, but ultimately left the area by water taxi.

As the helicopter came down, the strong winds from its rotors threw up a thick cloud of dust and sand, forcing bathers to move away from the spot. The incident sparked a public backlash, coming just weeks after a similar case at Sarakiniko beach on the island of Milos.