Tests delay trial over record cocaine haul
Court hearings concerning the city's largest cocaine seizure were adjourned for almost three months yesterday after prosecutors said they needed time to complete their examination of the 372kg haul.
Prosecutor Katherine Yeoh told Principal Magistrate Josiah Lam Wai-kuen in Fanling Court that government chemists were speeding up the analysis process, which would normally take about 25 weeks, and had confirmed a 3kg sample was cocaine.
Adjourning the case to September 6, Lam said that although the prosecution had confirmed a sample, the court could not make an order to speed up the process at this stage.
Six people who appeared before Lam charged with trafficking 372kg of cocaine seized in April at Tai Po Tin village in Ta Kwu Ling did not enter a plea. Village head Pang Yuet-wan, 53, his sister Connie Pang Yuk-tai, 47, and his wife Ling Yuen-sheung, 36, have been in custody since their arrest in late April. Pang Yuet-wan's brother Pang On-fat, 38, sister-in-law Luo Juhua, 22, and friend Lau Tin-sung, 47, are on bail.
The drugs, which have an estimated street value of HK$337 million, were found in 26 boxes on the rooftop of a village house during an investigation into a missing Dutch-Chinese man.
A police spokeswoman said the man was still missing.
