A 50-year-old foreign man was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Tuesday for alleged drug trafficking.
When customs officers examined the luggage of the man, who arrived in Hong Kong from Togo via Ethiopia, they found a false compartment at the bottom of his bag, according to a government release.
A total of 3.6 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine were concealed inside the false compartment. The meth, or ‘yaba’, as it’s known, was estimated to have a market value of HK$1.9 million (US$242,160).
The man, said to be from an Eastern European country, was charged with one count of trafficking a dangerous drug.
This is the fourth case this year of ‘visitors’ from places in Africa trafficking drugs and getting arrested at the airport, Oriental Daily reported.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking a dangerous drug is a serious offense. The maximum penalty for those convicted is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.