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Clifford Lo

A traveller from Brazil was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday 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.”
READ MORE: Australian police report shows crystal meth trail leading back to Hong Kong 
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.
READ MORE: Drug seizures surge at Chek Lap Kok amid tide of ‘mail order’ shipments from China 
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.


Traveller’s ‘unusually heavy’ empty bag yields 3.8kg of suspected cocaine worth HK$4.4 million

The luggage bag that raised the suspicions of airport customs. Photo: SCMP Picture

Cocaine worth HK$1.9m hidden in eagle sculptures seized at Hong Kong airport as police swoop to arrest three suspects

Three Hong Kong men aged 30 to 51 were picked up at about 3pm when they arrived to collect the parcel that carried the three sculptures which were mailed to the city from South America earlier this week.


Police and customs officers confiscated 163kg of cocaine in the first six months of this year - a 167 per cent rise from the same period last year. Photo: David Wong

A woman arrived at Hong Kong from Bogota, Colombia, via Paris, France on August 8. During Customs clearance, about 1.65 kilograms of suspected cocaine valued at $2.1 million were found concealed inside a tailor-made underwear she was wearing.

HK$1.2 billion worth of crystal meth seized by New Zealand authorities

Customs worker Bruce Berry talks through various concealment methods people use.

Drug seizures surge at Chek Lap Kok amid tide of ‘mail order’ shipments from China

Security guards check documents of a man at the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Edward Wong

Call for more lenient sentences for 'tricked' elderly drug mules intercepted in Hong Kong

Albert Ho Shi-king, customs assistant commissioner for intelligence and investigation, says 10 visitors tricked into drug trafficking were intercepted at Chek Lap Kok last year.

Australian police report shows crystal meth trail leading back to Hong Kong

Part of a sea shipment of Ice from Hong Kong that was seized in Australia. Photo: AFP

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

A traveller from Brazil was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday after her “exceptionally heavy” empty suitcase yielded 3.8kg of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of HK$4.4 million.
