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Hong Kong customs has arrested an elderly traveller on a flight from Brazil after he was found to have HK$1.7 million (US$217,435) worth of liquid cocaine concealed in his body, the third air passenger from the country detained for alleged drug trafficking in a week.The 75-year-old Peruvian was intercepted during customs clearance at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday.According to the Customs and Excise Department, he flew into the city from Sao Paulo in Brazil via Ethiopia. Inspector Yumi Wong Yu-yee of the customs drug investigation bureau said the man had acted suspiciously during inquiries at the customs counter.▲The latest case was the seventh detected at the airport so far this year involving the use of internal concealment methods. Photo: Yik Yeung-manShe said the man was suspected of having swallowed drug-filled pellets and taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for an X-ray.The test confirmed pellets were hidden inside his body and he was arrested.The man had discharged 38 pellets of suspected liquid cocaine weighing about 1.5kg (3lbs) by Tuesday afternoon. The haul had an estimated street value of HK$1.7 million.The suspect was the third air arrival from Brazil arrested for alleged drug trafficking in a week. It was the seventh case detected at the airport so far this year involving the use of internal concealment methods.Customs officials last Friday arrested a 65-year-old man who arrived from Brazil via Ethiopia for allegedly smuggling 2kg of cocaine worth HK$2.1 million hidden in three book covers.And a 27-year-old man who flew into the city from Brazil via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday was arrested after he was found to have 770 grams (27 ounces) of suspected cocaine hidden in his body.The haul was estimated to be worth about HK$850,000.Thirty air travellers were arrested on suspicion of smuggling 45.9kg of drugs worth HK$39 million between January and June this year. Just seven people were detained over the same period in 2022.Authorities said criminal syndicates had stepped up their use of couriers to smuggle illegal drugs into Hong Kong since the end of coronavirus restrictions made travel easier.In a separate case, police seized HK$13 million worth of suspected heroin and arrested a 28-year-old man in Sheung Shui in a crackdown on a triad-controlled drug trafficking syndicate on Monday.Officers from the force’s narcotics bureau, acting on a tip-off, intercepted the man outside an industrial building in Sheung Shui.Four slabs of suspected heroin weighing 1.4kg were found in his possession, senior inspector Tong Wai-kwok of the bureau said on Tuesday.He added the suspect was taken into one of the units in the building and police seized another 12.5kg of what appeared to be heroin and packaging equipment.Tong said an investigation showed the unit had been used to store the illegal drug for about a month.He added the source of the narcotics and the distribution network in the city were being investigated.Trafficking in a dangerous drug is punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine in Hong Kong.Provisional figures showed that seizures of the five major illegal drugs – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – surged by two-thirds to 3,712kg in the first five months of this year from 2,227kg in the same period last year.Cocaine seizures increased 228 per cent to 1,489kg between January and May, up from 454kg in the same period last year.Source : https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3231157/traveller-75-arriving-hong-kong-airport-arrested-allegedly-hiding-hk17-million-worth-cocaine-his
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