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After spending three years in jail, a Chinese woman has been found not guilty of drug trafficking by a Hong Kong Court.
Thirty-three year old single mum, Li Dandan, had unknowngly trafficked 1,935 grams methamphetamine, a drug more commonly known as Ice, worth HK$580,000 (N27 million) in international market.
On November 7, 2015, when Li was 30, she was intercepted at Hong Kong International Airport en route Malaysia to help deliver clothing samples for her Nigerian boyfriend, identified as IK. The man was reportedly planning to set up business in her home province of Guangdong.
The drugs were found stored in a hidden compartment sewn into the linings of her backpack.
In a letter she wrote to the prison chaplain,Reverend John Wotherspoon, Li said: “I dated this Nigerian man because he did not smoke or drink. He struck me as a hardworking person. I could not believe he was a drug trafficker.”
Wotherspoon travelled to Malaysia, Bangkok, Thailand, and Guangzhou to track down IK, with the Nigerian’s picture in hand to prove her innocence.
He visited the restaurant and hotel where they stayed together, found his address in Malaysia, and passed on the information to Hong Kong police. At trial, he testified for the defence as a character witness.
Meanwhile, Li’s counsel, Leung Chun-keung, argued it was possible his client did not know about the hidden compartment as she was not professionally trained like customs officers to detect abnormalities in bag linings.
On Thursday, Li was found not guilty of drug trafficking by a unanimous jury verdict following a week-long retrial held after the previous jury had returned a split verdict of 4-3.