Hong Kong: 11kg of suspected cocaine found in electric wheelchair at airport

Published

1 year ago

October 16, 2023

admin

Officials at Hong Kong International Airport have uncovered 11kg of suspected cocaine hidden in the cushions of an electric wheelchair.

The haul has an estimated market value of about HK$12m (£1.2m) and was found when a 51-year-old man was going through customs on Saturday.

He arrived in Hong Kong from the Caribbean country of Sint Maarten via Paris, and has been arrested.

“Customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine concealed inside the interlinings of the cushions and the back of his check-in electric wheelchair,” officials said.

The wheelchair was one of two pieces of his checked baggage.

It was searched when customs officers became suspicious after it was scanned and they found evidence its seat cushion and backrest had been opened and restitched.

The man, who was using crutches, told officials he was a car rental company director and the wheelchair had been loaned to him by a friend for use during his travels, according to local media reports.

Smuggling drugs is a serious offence in Hong Kong.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of HK$5m (£525,793) and life imprisonment.

There have been several widely reported cases of people using wheelchairs to smuggle drugs in recent years.

In September last year, almost £1.2m worth of cocaine was found in a motorised wheelchair at Milan Malpensa Airport in Italy.

World

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

5 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

World

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

5 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.

The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.

All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.

Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.

It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.

World

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

11 hours ago

November 15, 2024

admin

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.