Hong Kong chef busted with 48kg of cocaine in record haul for single passenger
Record haul from a single passenger stashed in paper, bags and quilts, while a Russian from the same flight was found with 12kg of the drug
A 35-year-old Hong Kong traveller brought home 48kg of cocaine from Brazil two days ago, breaking the record for a drug haul from a single passenger.
A Russian woman, 22, was found with 12kg of the hard drug as she tried to enter the city on Tuesday. Both took the same three flights en route from Brazil to Hong Kong, but no link has been found between them so far.
Both transited in Beijing, a significant new addition to the typical route of drug traffickers from South America, said Ng King-hong, head of the Customs and Excise Department's air passenger and apron group. "The two took advantage of the busy summer holiday and tried to blend into the crowd," Ng said.
It was the third seizure of cocaine in five days from passengers arriving from South America. On Saturday, officers seized 24kg of cocaine, just 2kg short of the previous record haul confiscated in 2011.
The local man and the Russian woman had made a "new and unique" journey, taking three flights totalling 27 hours, to bring the sizeable haul over from Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, the department said.
Along the way, they travelled to Madrid and then Beijing.