Passenger from KL arrested in Hong Kong with 1kg cocaine in shoes

KUALA LUMPUR: A man was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport after about 1kg of suspected cocaine was found in the shoes he was wearing upon arrival from Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday.

Hong Kong Customs said the 36-year-old local man was detained during a customs inspection of arriving passengers.

"Customs officers found about 1kg of suspected cocaine in the shoes worn by the man before arresting him.

"The seized drugs were estimated to be worth HK$600,000 (about RM311,000), and investigations into the case are ongoing," it said in a statement.

The arrest follows several previous cases involving the same modus operandi, in which drugs were concealed in shoes worn by passengers on flights from Malaysia.

On Sept 16, a 29-year-old man from mainland China was arrested in Hong Kong after about 1kg of suspected cocaine was found in his shoes upon arrival from Kuala Lumpur.

Hong Kong Customs also recorded similar cases on July 15 and 7, involving the seizure of about 1kg of suspected cocaine from passengers arriving from Kuala Lumpur.

On May 17, two other passengers from Kuala Lumpur were arrested in separate cases after 820g and 800g of suspected cocaine were found in their respective shoes.

In Japan, five Malaysians who had departed from Kuala Lumpur were arrested at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Oct 10 after about 5kg of cocaine was found in their shoe insoles.

The same modus operandi was also detected in Indonesia, where five Malaysians arriving from Kuala Lumpur were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta last September, with about 5.2kg of etomidate concealed in their shoe soles.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Customs reminded the public not to accept offers or instructions from others to carry controlled items into or out of Hong Kong in exchange for monetary rewards.

Under Hong Kong's Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, drug trafficking carries life imprisonment and a maximum fine of HK$5 million (about RM2.59 million) upon conviction.