The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested on Saturday a 31-year-old Hong Kong woman hired by a drug-trafficking gang to smuggle cannabis buds via the local airport, with the drugs seized having an estimated street value of 17 million patacas.
PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon briefed reporters at the local airport on Saturday afternoon about the case.
The woman was hired by the gang to smuggle the cannabis buds from a Southeast Asian country, which Leng did not identify, to an unknown final destination via Macau.
Leng said that after assessing intelligence they had gathered, PJ officers intercepted the Hong Kong woman when she collected her luggage after arriving in Macau on Saturday morning, in which they found 30 bags of cannabis buds weighing 17.3 kilogrammes in total, with an estimated street value of 17 million patacas.
According to Leng, under questioning, the woman surnamed Lee, admitted that she had been hired by a gang to smuggle the drugs to a final destination via Macau. However, Leng said, the woman refused to reveal any further information about the gang, such as how much the gang had promised to pay her provided that she succeeded in smuggling the cannabis buds to the final destination.
Leng said that the police continued investigating the origin of the cannabis buds and tracing others possibly involved in the case.
The suspect has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further questioning, facing a drug trafficking charge.
Six PJ officers show journalists the cannabis buds seized from the suspect and her suitcase during Saturday’s press briefing at the airport. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
