Female passenger from Harare arrested in Hong Kong with cocaine valued at US$1m concealed in her body

Hong Kong Customs on Saturday detected a dangerous drugs internal concealment case involving an incoming passenger at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 1.2 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $1 million.

A female passenger, aged 38, arrived in Hong Kong from Harare, Zimbabwe via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers suspected that the passenger had dangerous drugs concealed inside her body cavity.

She was then escorted to the hospital for examination.

Upon examination, the woman was confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside her body cavity. She was arrested immediately. As at 9pm today (March 10), the arrested woman has excreted 85 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 1.2 kilograms in total.

An investigation is ongoing.

Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

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