Updated at 6.59pm: A 49-year-old Hong Kong resident was jailed for 29 months for possessing 18 false Korean passports, an Immigration spokesman said on Thursday.
Lam Woon-sun pleaded guilty earlier in the District Court to one count of possession of fake documents.
Immigration investigators took over the case from customs officers, who unearthed the Korean passports from the defendant's baggage at Chek Lap Kok airport in March.
Lam admitted he was to be paid for bringing the passports to Hong Kong from France via Moscow and said he knew the passports would be forwarded to mainland residents seeking illegal entry to overseas countries.
Subsequent forensic examination confirmed the bio-data pages of the 18 passports had been replaced.
'Under the laws of Hong Kong, anyone who possesses a false travel document commits an offence. Offenders are liable to prosecution and, upon conviction, the maximum penalty will be a fine of $150,000 and imprisonment for 14 years,' the spokesman warned.
