By Heba Saleh BBC correspondent in Cairo

Egyptian customs have caught their largest ever haul of smuggled Viagra, with a black market value of several million dollars.

A businessman and his wife who had arrived from the Gulf Emirate of Dubai were said to have been carrying in their luggage some 300,000 Viagra tablets.

The businessman will now have to pay a fine of $2.8m if he wants to avoid going to jail.

The Viagra tablets - worth millions of dollars on the black market - had apparently been stashed in four suitcases accompanying the couple.

Black market

The excessive weight of the luggage attracted the attention of airport security officials, who alerted customs officers.

Viagra is available in Egypt under prescription only.

There is however a large under-the-counter market for the drug, which enhances sexual performance.

Customs officials say they are constantly foiling attempts to smuggle it in with passengers arriving by sea and air.

Men and women have been caught trying to bring it in shampoo and perfume bottles and in the lining of their suitcases.

The customs authority now has in its stores three million confiscated Viagra tablets, but no decision has yet been taken on what to do with them.