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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Hong Kong: 11 kilos of suspected cocaine found in electric wheelchair

Officials at Hong Kong International Airport have seized 11 kilograms of suspected cocaine found stuffed in the cushions of an electric wheelchair.

The haul has an estimated value of HK$12m (£1.26m) and was found when a 51-year-old man arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday.

The suspect came to Hong Kong from the Caribbean country of Sint Maarten via Paris, and was arrested.

Officials said the man could face life in prison if convicted of trafficking a dangerous drug.

The wheelchair was allegedly brought into the country as one of two pieces of checked baggage, but officials became suspicious and examined it further.

They said they found evidence that the seat cushion and backrest had been re-stitched.

The arrested man, who has mobility issues and is not from Hong Kong, told officials that the wheelchair had been loaned by a friend and that he managed a car rental company, according to local media reports.

Customs officials said an investigation was ongoing and that it would “focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.”

There have been several high-profile cases of people using wheelchairs to smuggle drugs in recent years.

In November, officials in New York found $450,000-worth (£370,000) of cocaine found inside the wheels of a woman’s wheelchair, while in September last year some $1.6m-worth (£1.32m) of cocaine was discovered in the upholstery of a motorised wheelchair in Milan.

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