Paris Olympics: Australian Kookaburras hockey player Tom Craig is ‘arrested on suspicion of buying cocaine in Paris’

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

Kookaburras striker Tom Craig, 28, was arrested on Tuesday night 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 inquiries and arrange support for the team member.’

Craig faced a summary hearing on Wednesday night (AEST) alongside his lawyers.

It is expected he will speak to media after he is possibly fined and released. 

Tom Craig (pictured) was arrested for allegedly buying cocaine in Paris overnight on Wednesday

Craig (pictured) is from Lane Cove in Sydney’s north and dating Alice Arnott, a player on Australia’s women field hockey team

It’s understood Craig was arrested just 15 minutes after leaving an Australian team function. 

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 ecstasy 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 Paris time.

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. 

The Kookaburras striker from Lane Cove in Sydney’s north is the partner of Alice Arnott, a player on Australia’s women field hockey team – the Hockeyroos.

The couple have posted photos of each other in Paris on social media.

The Kookaburras – which won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, were eliminated from the Olympics with a quarter-final loss against the Netherlands earlier this week.

The Hockeyroos were also eliminated in less than 24 hours with a shock 3-2 quarter-final loss against China.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Hockey Australia for comment. 

Local prosecutors said Craig (pictured) was spotted ‘at the foot of a building in the ninth arrondissement’, shortly after midnight

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.