Kim Le Thu,was arrested trying to bring 3 kilograms of heroin into the mainland through Shenzhen

A Vietnamese woman was arrested trying to bring 3 kilograms of heroin into the mainland through Shenzhen on Tuesday night.The seizure was the first this year and the largest in the history of the Shenzhen International Airport border police.Kim Le Thu, 42, arrived at Shenzhen on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia. She looked nervous when going through immigration procedures, police said yesterday.Police became more suspicious when the woman, who was alone, was unable to say why she was coming to China. She could not speak Chinese or English.Police later found a large parcel of chocolates inside her luggage. The “chocolates” were very solid and extremely heavy. Police cut open the outer wrapping and found 20 chunks of yellowish powder.The chunks, weighing a total of 2.968 kg, were later tested and found to be heroin, police said.Airport police detected six cases of heroin trafficking over the past year. Three men from the Philippines were caught trying to smuggle 1.2 kg of heroin into Shenzhen in June last year. On July 7, a Filipina was detained after attempting to smuggle 1 kg of heroin into China via Shenzhen.In October last year, four foreigners were jailed for trafficking heroine in Guangzhou. One from Uganda was sentenced to death, suspended for two years, for carrying 2.080 kg of heroin in her luggage.

Ling Yiu-kay, 55, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs, one of which involved the minor.

In sentencing, High Court Judge Judianna Barnes Wai-ling said though Ling was not the mastermind of the drug trafficking scheme, the case was aggravated by the fact that a child was used .The judge also said that Ling committed the offense when he was on bail for another drug offense, and that most of his 15 previous convictions were drug-related.The Primary 4 girl is now in the custody of Po Leung Kuk. Her 50-year- old mother was once charged with ill- treatment, a count later dropped because of a lack of evidence.The court had heard that Ling was introduced to the girl's mother by a friend. It was alleged the mother instructed her to travel to Shenzhen on her own to collect a "gift," even though the girl said she was reluctant to do so.
Immigration records showed that from July 2007, Ling and the girl traveled together to and from Shenzhen more than 40 times. The girl traveled alone to the Lo Wu checkpoint to collect the heroin and midazolam tablets and took them back to Hong Kong in her rucksack.