A customs officer stated on Wednesday that three passengers who arrived in Hong Kong from Brazil this week were found to be carrying HK$1.3 million (US$165,727) worth of cocaine hidden inside their bodies and were arrested.
Two women and a male were at the Hong Kong International Airport on Monday and Tuesday. They had been detained during the customs clearing process. According to customs, the three people who arrived from Brazil by plane—one man and two women—were allegedly recruited by the same drug trafficking organization.
As of Wednesday morning, the suspects had reportedly released 154 pellets of possible cocaine, totaling around 1.6kg. The three suspects flew into the city from Sao Paulo, Brazil, through Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to Senior Inspector Tsang Yau-chuen of the customs' narcotics investigation bureau.
At a news conference at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong Customs officers presented suspected cocaine. Tsang added that the group had first been on the same airplane, but the man arrived in Bangkok.
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The 22- and 24-year-old ladies who arrived in the city by plane on Monday were detained when they displayed suspicious behavior at the customs desk. A subsequent X-ray at Queen Elizabeth Hospital revealed that narcotics had been smuggled into the two people's bodies.
The third suspect, a 22-year-old guy, was apprehended on Tuesday as he arrived in the city by plane from Bangkok. He was also sent to the same hospital for a checkup when it was determined that internal concealment had occurred.
The three individuals are suspected of discharging 154 pellets of cocaine, totaling around 1.6kg, as of Wednesday morning. Tsang assessed the haul's street value at HK$1.3 million.
The group was held on suspicion of trafficking hazardous drugs. This crime carries a HK$5 million fine and, at most, a life sentence in prison.
According to Tsang, the investigation showed that all three suspects stayed at the same hotel in the same city, had the same amount of cash, and had their airline tickets purchased by the same international travel agency.
Authorities claim that since epidemic curbs have been lifted, criminal gangs have increased their courier employment to deliver illegal substances into Hong Kong. Since January 2021, a 63-year-old man from Brazil who arrived in May last year was the first air traveler detained for drug trafficking.
Between May and December last year, he was one of more than ten arrivals held at the airport. Arriving tourists' illegal drugs were typically hidden in luggage compartments, tied to their waists and thighs, or buried inside their bodies.
Tsang claims that since normal travel and interactions with mainland China and other nations were resumed, the quantity of tourists visiting Hong Kong has been progressively rising.
He declared that to stop cross-border drug trafficking activities, Hong Kong customs will continue to use a risk assessment approach and choose arriving visitors from high-risk areas for clearance.
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According to preliminary data, seizures of the city's top five illegal substances—cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine—rose by 55% to 7.9 tonnes in 2018 from 5.07 tonnes in 2021.
Cocaine seizures increased by 110% to 2,271kg (5,006 lbs) in 2017 from 1,079kg in 2021.
