Vancouver man jailed 52 months for 30 kg of cannabis at Hong Kong airport
A Vancouver man caught at Hong Kong International Airport with about 30 kg of cannabis buds in two suitcases in February 2019 was sentenced to 52 months in prison that October. He said he had smuggled the drugs for $25,000 while on welfare in Canada.
On 18 February 2019, a 36-year-old man who arrived in Hong Kong from
Vancouver, Canada, was stopped at Hong Kong International Airport, where
Customs officers found about 30 kg of suspected cannabis buds concealed
inside his two suitcases.[1]Customs estimated the market value at about
HK$6.2 million.[1]The man was arrested and charged with one count of
trafficking in a dangerous drug, and was due to appear at West Kowloon
Magistrates’ Courts on 20 February.[1]
Sentence
The smuggler, identified as Vancouver man Sinara Nou, had packed 16 slabs of
cannabis buds wrapped in towels in one suitcase and 14 in the other.[2]He
said he was on welfare in Vancouver and had smuggled the drugs into Hong Kong
for $25,000.[2]He was convicted and sentenced to 52 months in jail.[2]
Photos and video
The seized cannabis buds found in the passenger's two suitcases. Photo: Hong Kong Customs and Excise DepartmentPhoto details
Customs reported about 30 kg while the later sentencing report says 29 kg in 30 slabs; the official seizure figure is used.
Customs estimated the value at about HK$6.2 million at seizure while the later report put the street value near HK$13 million; the official estimate is used.
The sentencing report says only that he was sentenced "last week", so 11 October 2019 is used as an approximate date.
The court that passed sentence was not named in the opened sources.
John Ulrik Aboy, 23, was jailed for 20 months at West Kowloon Court on 20 July 2026 after pleading guilty to trafficking 4,999 grams of cannabis buds found in his suitcase when he arrived from Bangkok on 20 December 2025; Magistrate Jeffrey Sze applied a one-third discount from a 30-month starting point.
Czar Francine Miranda, 21, was sentenced at West Kowloon Court on 14 July 2026 to 12 months' imprisonment for trafficking 2,921 grams of cannabis buds found in her luggage when she arrived from Bangkok on 21 February 2026, plus one month concurrent for importing a banned e-cigarette.
On 2 July 2026 the High Court sentenced Tse To-chiu, 36, to six years and ten months in prison after he pleaded guilty to trafficking 104.2 kilogrammes of herbal cannabis found in his light goods vehicle at a Tsing Yi car park in July 2024; the judge treated him as a courier and applied a full one-third discount from a ten-year-three-month starting point.
Charged 1Cannabis 104.2 kgPrison 6 years 10 months
A traveller received two months overall after convictions for possessing CBD, possessing ketamine and having injection equipment. Officers had found two personal-care bottles containing about 5 g of CBD, about 2.2 g of ketamine and ten syringes after her arrival from the United States in March.
