Advertisement
Advertisement
Crime
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
A 33-year-old Hong Kong man was arrested at the border. Photo: handout

Suspected drug trafficker arrested trying to bring HK$650,000 of cannabis into Hong Kong

  • Customs officers make find during routine stop and search at Lok Ma Chau checkpoint
Crime

Customs officers arrested a suspected drug trafficker at a Hong Kong immigration control point on Monday after finding 3.1kg of cannabis buds in his rucksack.

The Hong Kong man, 33, was stopped during a routine search at the border checkpoint at Lok Ma Chau at about 6.30am as he returned to the city from Shenzhen.

“In a rucksack the suspect was carrying, there were three vacuum-sealed aluminium foil bags that contained suspected cannabis buds,” senior inspector Ho Kin-lun said.

He said a total of 3.1kg of the drug was found in the three bags, and the haul had an estimated street value of HK$650,000.

Customs officers with the bags of drugs seized at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint. Photo: handout

“We believe the vacuum-sealed bags were used in an attempt to contain the strong smell of cannabis buds and to foil sniffer dogs,” Ho said.

Ho said an initial investigation showed the drug was for local consumption, and officers were investigating whether the man was hired by a drug trafficking syndicate to smuggle the drug into the city from mainland China.

HK$35 million in cannabis plants seized in raids on indoor farms

As of 2pm, the suspect was still being held at the headquarters of the Customs & Excise Department in North Point for questioning and had not been charged.

In the run-up to Lunar New Year, local authorities believed there would be a demand for illegal drugs and enforcement actions had been enhanced.

Local authorities confiscated 246kg of cannabis in the first 10 months of 2018, down 67.5 per cent from 757kg in the same period the previous year.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: 3.1kg of cannabis found in rucksack
Post