Customs officers at Lo Wu Control Point, with the aid of a "passive-alert" sniffer dog, seized 270 grams of suspected ketamine from an incoming passenger yesterday (March 2).
At about 8.35pm, the officers - assisted by "Barney" who is specially trained to remain calm if he detects drugs - intercepted and searched a 22-year-old man, upon his return from Shenzhen. They found the suspected dangerous drugs, worth about $87,900, inside his shoes and in a packet he was carrying.
The man will appear at Fanling Magistrates' Courts this afternoon (March 3) to face a charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs.
The maximum penalty for the offence of "trafficking in dangerous drugs" under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance is life imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.
"Barney, a male labrador retriever, joined the Customs team in 2000," a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department said.
The spokesman appealed to travellers to be patient when going through Customs checks at the boundary as officers had to check for the illegal importation and exportation of prohibited goods.
Ends/Wednesday, March 3, 2004