Customs officers seized about 1.2 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about HK$1.2 million from a 43-year-old male traveler who swallowed the drugs.
The suspect arrived from Addis Ababa via Bangkok on Sunday and was intercepted by Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department officers at the airport after officers conducting risk assessment procedures noticed that his luggage was relatively small and that he had not booked a hotel room in advance.
“The recent relaxation of quarantine measures in Hong Kong has led to an increase in the number of inbound tourists. But some criminals have been using passengers to traffic in dangerous drugs,” said senior investigator Tsang Yau-chuen of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau’s Airport Investigation Group.