Hong Kong airport authorities stop motorised wheelchair with 11kg of cocaine hidden in cushions

Wheelchair had signs of tampering with cushions and backseat

Hong Kong‘s airport authorities have arrested a man with mobility issues after 11kg of suspected cocaine was seized from his motorised wheelchair.

Customs officials at Hong Kong International Airport seized the haul with an estimated street value of $1.5m (£1.26m) that had been stitched into the cushions of the wheelchair.

The 51-year-old man, who has not been identified but is not believed to be from Hong Kong, arrived in the Chinese city from the Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten via Paris on Saturday.

He told customs officials he was the director of a car rental company, and that the wheelchair had been lent to him by a friend, according to the South China Morning Post.

He was using crutches and brought the electric wheelchair into Hong Kong as one of two pieces of check-in baggage, the customs officials said.

“During customs clearance, customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine concealed inside the interlinings of the cushions and the back of his check-in electric wheelchair,” a release from the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department said.

Officials reportedly spotted something was amiss when the wheelchair went through a routine X-ray. Upon closer inspection they found signs that the chair’s seat cushions and backrest had previously been opened up and restitched.

The customs officials said an investigation has been launched into the incident.

The department said they will increase checks on visitors from “high-risk” regions to fight international drug trafficking activities, noting that these have increased after Covid pandemic-era travel restrictions were lifted.

If found guilty the man could face life in prison and a fine of up to 5m Hong Kong dollars (£530,000).

Incidents of transnational drug trafficking increased from 906 in 2021 to 931 in 2022, according to Hong Kong government statistics.

In August, a 65-year-old passenger from Ethiopia was arrested for attempting to smuggle 2kg of cocaine hidden in three book covers.

It is not the first time drugs concealed in a wheelchair were found by airport authorities. Last November US customs officials arrested a woman in New York after cocaine with a street value of $450,000 was found in the wheels of her wheelchair. The woman travelling from Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.