The incident occurred in April 2024.
I was in debt to the bank for about 200,000 HKD due to accumulated medical expenses for my mother-in-law cancer treatment. At the time, I had a quarrel with my wife and she asked for a divorce. I was feeling extremely down. Suddenly, I received a phone call offering a free trip including airfare and hotel to Thailand. Desperate for any form of escape, I accepted the offer, failing to recognize it as the precise moment I was targeted for exploitation.
Allow me to share my story about how I got involved in dangerous drugs trafficking to Hong Kong.
I come from a family of four: my mother, father, younger sister, and me. In 2010, I lost my mother to a pulmonary disease, followed by my grandmother shortly after. I began to experience heartaches, sleepless nights, anxiety, and a feeling of emptiness. I went to the doctor, describing my symptoms, and was told I might have a brain tumor. After several tests, the doctor confirmed I was physically healthy but emotionally under extreme stress. I am still on medication for depression.
Determined to heal, I challenged myself to complete my college education while raising two children alone and working full-time. I developed an overwhelming urge to prove something to myself. Despite every reason to quit—lack of sleep, money, and resources—I earned my college degree. My plans were to graduate and find a good job, but life didn’t go as I hoped.
I felt sad yet empowered, knowing I had the fortitude to press on, especially for my daughter. I remember reading her congratulatory card: “Someday I hope to make you as proud of me as I am proud of you.” I was devastated, knowing my daughter needed a substantial amount of money to join high school.
“Someday I hope to make you as proud of me as I am proud of you.”
April 16, 2024 — Hong Kong Customs yesterday detected two drug trafficking cases involving baggage concealment at Hong Kong International Airport and seized a total of about 17 kilograms of suspected cannabis buds with a total estimated market value of about $3.8 million. Two men were arrested.
Yesterday, Customs intercepted two male passengers aged 65 and 23, both arriving in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, at the airport. During Customs clearance, about 8kg and 9kg of suspected cannabis buds were respectively found in each of their checked-in luggage. The duo were subsequently arrested.
March 24, 2024 — Hong Kong Customs detected a dangerous drugs internal concealment case involving an incoming passenger at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 1.5 kilograms of suspected liquid cocaine with an estimated market value of about $1.5 million.
A female passenger, aged 52, arrived in Hong Kong from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers suspected that the passenger had dangerous drugs concealed inside her body cavity. She was then escorted to the hospital for examination.
Continue reading Woman from Brazil concealed 1.5kg of liquid cocaine inside body
I am a 29 years old woman from South Africa. In 2022 I was arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport for trafficking dangerous drug. I am a single mother of two boys, aged 11 and 9 years old.
Before my arrest, I had been struggling to support my sons financially. In 2020 I enrolled in a college for a 3-year course. Once admitted I was offered a bursary that only covered my fees, but in order to get it, I needed to achieve a certain percentage in my exams. Unfortunately I struggled to maintain the grades, and in 2022 my performance dropped. The bursary stopped paying for my fees, but I continued studying without paying and I managed to qualify to write my final-year exams.
Being arrested is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I am emotionally drained, I just live because there is nothing else to do.
I am now in detention and I want to share my story of how I got tricked into trafficking cocaine into Hong Kong on 25th October 2022. That was the day I got arrested at the Hong Kong International Airport upon arriving.I am a 29-year-old mother of two. In 2020, I got a call from my ex-husband because things could not work out between us. We had separated in 2016 when I had just gotten pregnant with our second child. I had to relocate to a different town because a lot had happened to me. I needed space. I had left home by then, my grandparents who raised me didn’t agree with me having a baby. They were scared that with the way I was maybe I would go dump the child in the street. So I left them and went to my childhood friend who was willing to take me in. We started living happily. We found work as sales agents at one of the most popular insurance companies in my country because before I could separate from my ex-husband I was already selling insurance.
Customs announced on Friday that they busted a drug trafficking case on October 25 (Wed) and seized about 570 grams of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about HK$600,000.
A 53-year-old female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Bogata, Colombia, via Paris, France, on Wednesday (Oct 25).
During customs clearance, customs officers found her suspicious and suspected that she may have had drugs concealed inside her body. She was escorted to the hospital for an examination.
Continue reading Woman arrested for smuggling in HK$600k worth of drugs within body
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.
A 59-year-old man arriving from Brazil has been arrested after customs seized about 3 kg of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of HK$3.2 million at the airport.
Customs said the man arrived in Hong Kong from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, via Sao Paulo, Brazil and Doha, Qatar on Thursday.
Continue reading Man arriving from Brazil arrested after customs seize HK$3.2m worth of cocaine
Hong Kong saw its first case of drug smuggling via electric wheelchair as customs officers arrested one man.
Customs stated on Sunday that they were doing baggage clearance at the Hong Kong International Airport for a man who came from Sint Maarten via Paris on Saturday (Oct 14), with one of his two luggage items being an electric wheelchair.
When the wheelchair passed the x-ray examination, there was something suspicious about the image, and upon further inspection, it was found to be concealing suspected cocaine within the layers.
Continue reading Man arrested for smuggling HK$12m worth of cocaine within electric wheelchair
A 55-year-old woman was arrested at the airport on Friday as customs detected a drug trafficking case and seized about HK$2.2 million worth of cocaine weighing 2 kg.
The woman arrived in Hong Kong from Windhoek, Namibia, via Addis Ababa of Ethiopia and Dubai of the United Arab Emirates yesterday (Fri), customs said.
A man was arrested after Customs seized about 2 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth HK$2.1 million at Hong Kong International Airport.
Customs announced on Sunday that officers found the batch of suspected cocaine concealed inside the interlinings of three book covers in a rucksack last Friday (Aug 11) during customs clearance.
Continue reading Man arrested at Hong Kong airport with HK$2.1m of cocaine
Customs officers at the airport have seized around 13 kilogrammes of heroin hidden inside nylon mats brought into the city from Thailand.
The haul, estimated to be worth around HK$10 million, was discovered in a passenger’s suitcase on Saturday, officials said.
Aminah* and her aunt Sunarti* were shocked when they arrived at Hong Kong International Airport and customs officials used an electric drill to take their suitcases apart.
The Indonesian women were arrested for drug trafficking after the officers found 5kg of crystal meth, commonly known as ice, hidden in the bags.
A few weeks before their arrest in June 2019, Aminah, 25, a housewife living in Lombok, had been contacted by her Indonesian friend Kartini* who was working as a domestic worker in Hong Kong.
Customs officers have seized 2.3 tonnes of drugs with an estimated market value of HK$970 million at the airport in the first half, up more than 80 percent compared to the same period last year.
The 2.3 tonnes of suspected dangerous drugs, seized in 604 incidents, made up 88 percent of the 2.6 tonnes, the highest proportion in the past 10 years, that were hauled in all ports of entry.
By quantity, the top seizures were of cannabis (572 kilograms), ketamine (504 kg), methamphetamine (436 kg) and cocaine (241 kg).
Continue reading Drugs fight hits high with reopening of the border
