Drugs ordered by WeChat from US

A 25-year-old woman who allegedly bought drugs out of curiosity from overseas via WeChat was charged with drug smuggling on Monday by prosecutors in Jing'an District.

A parcel mailed to her from the US contained three packets of white powder and three portions of yellow liquid wrapped in a gray T-shirt. 

The 2.88 grams of white powder was found to be ketamine, while the 1.64 grams of liquid was found to contain marijuana.

The woman, surnamed Jiang, was arrested by Jing’an police after receiving an international parcel at her office on March 21.

The woman first told police she had received the parcel for a friend and did not know the sender. She also said she believed the items were electronic cigarettes.

However, she finally confessed that she had bought the drugs from a daigou, a cross-border shopper who buys foreign products for customers on the Chinese mainland, in the US. 

She said she had met a woman at a pub who introduced a daigou to her. She added the daigou as a WeChat friend and paid 3,650 yuan on March 7 for the drugs.

She said she did not have any clear idea about the drugs but only that they could make her feel high.

Meanwhile, on Monday the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court released a case concerning a drug dealer who used an online hailing car service.

The man had been sentenced to one and a half years in jail with a fine of 3,000 yuan after trafficking 3.4 grams of methamphetamine. 

He had appealed to an intermediate court, but it was rejected.

The court said the man, a recidivist, was paid 3,600 yuan by a customer for methamphetamine on May 18 last year. 

He then called an online ride-hailing service and asked the driver to deliver a box to a hotel. 

The driver, who was unaware of what was inside the box, was apprehended by police at the hotel.