A 33-year-old woman will appear at the West Kowloon Court tomorrow (Wed) after she was arrested at the airport for trafficking in HK$1.4 million worth of cocaine inside her body.
Customs said the woman arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday from Johannesburg, South Africa, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“During customs clearance, officers found her to be suspicious and suspected that she had dangerous drugs concealed inside her body cavity. She was then escorted to the hospital for examination,” customs said.
Upon examination, the woman was confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside her body cavity and she was immediately arrested.
As at 3pm today (Tue), the arrested woman has excreted 74 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 1.3 kg in total, with an estimated market value of about HK$1.4 million.
She faces a count of holding charge of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at the West Kowloon Court tomorrow (Wed).
“Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily,” customs said.
Customs added that it 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.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in dangerous drugs is a serious offense and the maximum penalty carries a HK$5 million fine and life imprisonment.