Australian Olympic hockey player is 'arrested on suspicion of buying cocaine in Paris'

An Australian field hockey player has been arrested on suspicion of buying cocaine in Paris.

Tom Craig, 28, was allegedly arrested overnight on Wednesday following a police swoop in the northern Pigalle area of the French capital.

FranceInfo, a highly-respected public broadcaster, reported Craig 'was arrested while (allegedly) in possession of approximately one gram of cocaine'.

Local prosecutors said Craig was spotted 'at the foot of a building in the ninth arrondissement', shortly after midnight.

The source told FranceInfo: 'The police arrested two men in the middle of a transaction.'

The investigation was being carried out by the Narcotics Brigade of Paris police.

In a statement, the Australia Olympic Committee said it 'has confirmed an Australian hockey team member is in custody after being arrested in Paris on August 6'.

'No charges have been laid,' it said.

'The AOC is continuing to make enquiries and arrange support for the team member.'

The unnamed seller was described as 17-year-old who was 'behaving like a dealer', said a prosecuting source.

He was allegedly carrying seven vials of cocaine, 75 ecstacy tablets and three grams of Mephedrone.

As the alleged dealer is legally a minor, he cannot be named. 

Craig was still in custody by late Wednesday morning. There was no initial comment from his legal counsel.

Craig has represented Australia at hockey since he was a boy and was a member of the 2018 Commonwealth Games team, which won a gold medal.

Craig's Olympic team, the Kookaburras, were eliminated from the Olympic quarterfinal earlier this week.

Under a French law introduced in 2020, people caught with less than five grams of cocaine can can face on-the-spot fines as low as €150 (AUD$249).

The recently-adopted law still allows those convicted of serious illicit drug use charges to spend up to a year behind bars.

The rule was introduced to 'simplify the work of law enforcement officers' and reduce pressure on criminal courts.