Five Taiwanese men confess to trafficking HK$5.9 million worth of Ice and ketamine to Hong Kong from Cambodia
- Men said strangers offered a free trip to Cambodia and HK$25,000 in cash
- Sentences to be handed down on May 7
Five Taiwanese men on Thursday admitted to trafficking more than HK$5.9 million worth of illegal drugs into Hong Kong after strangers gave them a free trip to Cambodia and promised a cash reward.
High Court heard the five men, aged between 18 and 24, were arrested on October 10, 2017, at Hong Kong International Airport by customs officers who found bags of suspected drugs wrapped around their bodies.
Those bags were found to contain 264.4 grams of crystal methamphetamine – commonly known as ice – and 7.8 kilograms of ketamine. The combined street value was an estimated HK$5.91 million (US$753,456).
Prosecutors said not all the men knew one another and some did not realise they were carrying drugs.
Two of the men were identified as Chen Yen-ting, 20, who did not disclose his occupation, and Cheng Hsu-hung, 24, a university graduate. The other three were waiters Li Wei-chen, 20, and Weng Wei-siang, 18, and Yang Ming-syuan, 21, who is unemployed.
Under caution, Chen, Li and Weng had told authorities that strangers had contacted them by phone and on WeChat and offered them a free trip to Cambodia with a cash reward upon return. Weng said the reward was 100,000 New Taiwan dollars (HK$25,418).