UPDATED 5.39pm: A 32-year-old passenger in a car that fled police in Christchurch has been detained.

Three elderly people were injured, one critically, when their car was struck by the fleeing vehicle on Monday.

It's been reported the detained woman had just smuggled drugs internally through Christchurch Airport.

She's being held by police under the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act, following her discharge from Christchurch Hospital.