A Chinese woman has been accused of offering sex to a customs officer at an airport in New York, after she was caught with undeclared luxury goods valued at US$160,000, New York Daily News reported.

Hong Yang, 55, arrived at the John F. Kennedy International Airport from Paris last July with her sister and daughter, who studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The Customs and Border Patrol officers found several undeclared items in their luggage, including designer bags, a fur coat, jewellery and watches.

John F. Kennedy International Airport. File photo: Wikicommons.

According to the complaint filed at Brooklyn Federal Court, the woman gave the officer a note with her phone number on it, and offered to give him a watch and US$10,000 to let them pass through the customs with the goods.

The customs officer then left to equip himself with a recording device. When he returned, Yang offered to “sleep with” the officer and take him to China, the complaint states.

Robert Gottlieb, Yang’s defence lawyer told the New York Daily News that the woman was allowed to leave the airport without any charges being made. However, Yang was later charged with customs fraud by U.S. Homeland Security agents this weekend when she tried to leave for China.

New York Daily News report. Photo: New York Daily News screenshot.

Gottlieb said, “There was clearly a misunderstanding that unfortunately has resulted in an unjust arrest of a wonderful woman.”

The woman was released and is presently on bail of US$250,000.