Hong Kong police announced on Saturday night that they had arrested two passengers who flew from Mozambique to the Chinese region with 33.5 kilos of methamphetamine, worth 1.9 million euros.
In a statement, Hong Kong Customs revealed that on Friday it had detected a 29-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman who had arrived at the territory’s airport from Mozambique via Doha, Qatar.
Agents found 10 oil paintings and 54 pieces of handicrafts inside the suitcases of the two travelers, used to hide a total of 33.5 kilos of methamphetamine, worth 16.5 million Hong Kong dollars (1.9 million euros).
The two passengers were arrested and the police stressed that the investigation is still ongoing.
The authorities stressed that “following the resumption of normal travel and trade with the interior [of China] and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has steadily increased”.
Since December 2022, the metropolis has abandoned China’s ‘zero covid’ policy, restricting entry into the territory, relying on mass testing, confinement of risk zones and quarantines.
Hong Kong Customs has promised to “continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on screening passengers from high-risk regions”.
The crime of drug trafficking is punishable in the Chinese region by a fine of up to 5 million Hong Kong dollars (585,000 euros) and a prison sentence of up to life.
In May, the territory’s police arrested three passengers on two consecutive days who had flown from Brazil to the region with a total of 1.6 kilos of cocaine, worth 1.3 million Hong Kong dollars (152,000 euros), inside their bodies.
In September 2022, the police announced the seizure of 16.5 kilos of cocaine, with a market value of 14 million Hong Kong dollars (1.6 million euros), inside containers with cotton fibers from Brazil.