Hong Kong Customs yesterday (February 5) seized about 470 grams of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $490,000 at Hong Kong International Airport.
A 35-year-old female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday. She was found to be suspicious upon customs clearance and was suspected to have dangerous drugs concealed inside her body cavities. She was escorted to hospital for examination and later discharged the batch of suspected cocaine. She was then arrested.
The arrested woman has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The case will be brought up at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (February 7).
Customs will continue to apply risk assessment strategy to select outbound, inbound and transit passengers for clearance to intercept different kinds of drug trafficking activities.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, February 6, 2020
