Drug trafficker gets 61/2 years

A PERUVIAN Chinese man was yesterday sentenced to 61/2 years' jail after having been found with more than 600 grams of cocaine.

The penalty was handed down by Deputy Judge Daniell on Chang Chen Liu-sa, 35, after a High Court jury found Chang guilty of one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug.

Chang, who was trained as a cook but worked in Japan as a construction site worker, denied the charge.

He claimed he had no knowledge of the drugs found in tins of olive oil and milk powder he said he was carrying for his boss.

During the trial, the court heard evidence called by Crown Counsel Philip Ross that Chang was stopped by Customs officers at Kai Tak airport after arriving from Japan on March 8 last year.

A total of 595 grams of cocaine in powder form were discovered in a can of milk powder and another 15 grams of a similar drug in liquid form were found in a tin of olive oil.

Chang said he had worked under a Mr Chu on a Japanese construction site before he got an offer to work as a cook.

But he said he had only a three-month visa and to get another three months it was necessary for him to leave the country first.

He said he only intended to stay in Hong Kong a day before returning to Japan.

Defence counsel Kevin Chan said Chang had left China for South America to seek a better living and had obtained a Peru passport.

But Chang's food business had collapsed and he had gone to Japan to make money to support his wife and eight-year-old son.