The District Court has jailed an expatriate couple, the woman for 32 months and the man for 40, for offences including possessing and using false instruments.

The 22-year-old woman and 34-year-old man bought a mobile phone with a credit card at a Wan Chai shop on August 15. Believing the card to be counterfeit, the shopkeeper called Police. Officers later seized two other counterfeit credit cards from the man.

The officers then seized a number of items from the couple's home in Central, including 17 suspected counterfeit credit cards, a forged passport, three identity cards and two driving licences, some cannabis and a substance considered Part I poison.

They also seized some mobile phones and cameras that had been purchased with the counterfeit credit cards.

The couple was jointly charged with 34 counts of using a false instrument, possessing false instruments, possessing a forged travel document and possessing identity cards relating to others. The man was also charged with four counts of possessing false instruments, breach of condition of stay, and possession of a dangerous drug and Part I poison.