Malaysian beautician detained in China for carrying friend’s bag filled with TCM pills

A favour of carrying a friend’s luggage at the airport had landed a Malaysian beautician a month-long stint in a Chinese lock-up.

Despite drug-sniffing dogs discovering no signs of narcotics, Lisa Lim, 45, was still detained for further investigations. Her ordeal began when her friend and business supplier, who holds the honorific title Datin, sought her help to carry a luggage as they arrived at the airport upon completing a group holiday in Kunming on January 7.

“My friend said she had other baggage to look after, so I did not think much [of it] and agreed.

“At the security checkpoint, the personnel found a huge amount of traditional Chinese medicine in the luggage and detained me,” she said, adding she was left alone while her friends, including the bag’s owner, boarded the flight to return home.

Lim said she was first told that she would only be kept for three days.

However, she ended up spending 30 days in the lock-up.

“I was unable to contact my family and friends until my release on February 7 and came back the following day.

“People thought I was involved in criminal activities,” Lim told a press conference arranged by the Malaysian Chinese Association’s Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong on Tuesday.

When Lim confronted the luggage’s owner, she was brushed off while her friends, who had joined in the trip, told her to let go and just forget about what had happened, she claimed, adding that she was appalled by the Datin’s attitude.

Chong said the incident had damaged Lim’s reputation and caused great stress to her and her family.

“She is lucky that she was released and that there had been no narcotics found.

“She does not blame the Chinese authorities because they were merely doing their job. But it