HONG KONG: A traveler from Brazil was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport here the other day after her “exceptionally heavy” empty suitcase yielded 3.8kg of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of HK$4.4 million.
It was the third such seizure at the airport in seven days.
The woman, 23, arrived in the city from Recife, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During customs clearance, officers emptied her check-in suitcase but found it was still a hefty bag, according to the Customs and Excise Department.
“In-depth examination led to the discovery of three slabs of suspected cocaine concealed inside the false compartment of the suitcase,” the department said today.
“It is believed the drug traffickers tried to use this concealment method to evade customs detection.”
The traveller, who claimed to be a saleswoman, would appear in Tsuen Wan Court tomorrow on one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, the department said.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, drug trafficking is a serious offence and carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.
Last week, customs officers at the airport arrested two women from Peru on Wednesday and seized 16kg of suspected cocaine in their two check-in luggage bags. The haul had an estimated street value of HK$18.6 million.
Upon follow-up action, a man, 57, was arrested in Tai Kok Tsui the following day.
A day later, airport officers arrested two women from Manila who had 2.5kg of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of HK$3.1 million hidden in the secret compartments of their two suitcases.
Follow-up investigations led to the arrests of another two women at the airport on Sunday.
The latest figures showed seizures of cocaine rose 95 per cent to 199kg in the first eight months of this year from the same period last year.