A male tourist arriving Hong Kong from Brazil will appear at the West Kowloon Court on Friday after he was earlier arrested for hiding drugs in his body, including 770 g of suspected cocaine worth HK$850,000 customs have seized so far.
The 27-year-old, reportedly a security guard, flew to Hong Kong on Tuesday via Dubai and Bangkok, according to customs. He was carrying light luggage and claimed to be a tourist.
Customs officers suspected he hid drugs inside his body and then escorted him to hospital for examination.
A doctor later confirmed the man had foreign objects concealed inside his body and he was arrested immediately. As of 11 am this morning (Thu), the man has excreted 77 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 770 g in total.
He remained in hospital as police believed he had yet to excrete all of the drugs from his body.
He has been charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs and will appear at the West Kowloon Court on tomorrow (Fri).
Customs said investigation is ongoing and they will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.
Customs also warned that trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offense and the maximum penalty upon conviction carries a HK$5 million fine and life imprisonment.