Hong Kong police sergeant may have stolen 25kg in crystal meth from scene of record-breaking bust he supervised, sources say
- ‘The officer involved was a team leader in last week’s operation and [had the authority to] direct away colleagues who were guarding the seizure,’ police source says
- A constable arrested alongside the veteran officer had been responsible for guarding the drugs at the scene, according to another source
A Hong Kong police officer arrested in connection with the seizure of 25kg of drugs worth HK$12 million is believed to have orchestrated its theft from the scene of a bust he was personally in charge of last week, according to police sources.
If true, it would mean the announced record seizure of 296kg of Ice, a form of methamphetamine, actually involved 321kg.
Sources said the station sergeant, who was arrested along with a constable in connection with the missing drugs, was in charge of the nighttime raid on an empty ground-floor shop in Jordan on Tuesday last week that produced the massive haul.
“The officer involved was a team leader in last week’s operation and [had the authority to] direct away his colleagues who were guarding the seizure in the shop,” the source said, adding some of the nylon bags used to store the meth had been sliced open at the time of the raid.
The arrested constable, meanwhile, had been responsible for guarding the drugs at the scene, according to another source.
The missing Ice was recovered after officers from the Mong Kok special duty squad arrested the veteran officer, 41, and two others – a 29-year-old woman and a 43-year-old woman – at the Royal Garden Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui in the early hours of Thursday.
Hong Kong police bag record 300kg of crystal meth worth nearly HK$160 million
Officers at the scene found 2.1kg of meth and HK$270,000 cash, while another 23kg was seized during a follow-up raid at a Shek Kip Mei flat associated with the station sergeant.
A sniffer dog was also deployed to search the sergeant’s office at Kowloon West regional headquarters. The constable, 37, was arrested at headquarters on Thursday night.
All four suspects were arrested on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
“According to our investigation at this stage, we have reason to believe the 25kg of suspected Ice is related to the drug case on April 28,” police said in its statement.
Two Hong Kong police officers arrested for possessing HK$12 million in drugs
The street value of last week’s bust was estimated at nearly HK$159 million.
The Post has reported that the sergeant and constable’s colleagues involved with the bust have been temporarily taken off the Kowloon West anti-triad squad pending further investigation.
Officers from the Narcotics Bureau are handling the case.
In 2003, the station sergeant, a constable at the time, and a senior inspector were commended by the police chief for their professionalism and devotion to duty for their roles in an anti-triad operation leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of four drug traffickers, 15 active triad members and the consequent neutralisation of two notorious triad gangs in Tsuen Wan.
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