Smugglers hoped smell of fruit would put Customs dogs off scent of hidden heroin

A gang of international drug smugglers tried to put investigators off the scent of a $16 million heroin shipment by burying the narcotics under a consignment of durians, a senior Customs officer said yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Man Wing-yiu, head of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau, said the haul was discovered after officers unloaded a container on a Taiwan-registered ship that had sailed from Thailand.

An X-ray detected 1,350 boxes of durians on the An Chun on Monday night. 'We unwrapped all the cartons for inspection and 80 slabs of high-grade heroin weighing 30kg were found concealed in the bottom of 20 carton boxes of durians,' he said.

'Drug smugglers thought the durian smell could cover up the bitter smell of heroin and put off sniffer dogs.'

Mr Man said the seizure was made after a tip-off from Royal Thai Customs. The vessel left Thailand on December 5 and arrived in Hong Kong on Monday afternoon, when the container of durians, which was not scheduled for unloading in Hong Kong, was selected for examination.

'The consignment was in transit in Hong Kong from Thailand to Taiwan. The haul of heroin originated from the Golden Triangle . . . and it was destined for Taiwan,' Mr Man said.

He said it was the biggest seizure of heroin this year.