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.

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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.

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