Sheets of paper soaked with 8kg of liquid cocaine among the drugs seized in Hong Kong bust
- Police say cocaine-soaked paper was found concealed between the layers of sheets of cardboard
- The cocaine has an estimated street value of HK$13 million, and was seized along with 42kg of ketamine valued at HK$25 million
The sheets of paper were stored in vacuum-sealed bags that had been concealed between layers of cardboard, according to Chief Inspector Ip Sau-lan of the narcotics bureau.
She said hundreds of the cardboard sheets were discovered in three boxes after two of the suspects – a man and a woman – were allegedly found unloading them from a taxi outside a Ha Heung Road industrial building in To Kwa Wan on Tuesday night. Once extracted, the drugs concealed in the sheets would have amounted to about 8kg of cocaine, she added.
In the taxi, officers also found equipment that could have been used for drug manufacturing, including two gas stoves.
Police arrested the pair, along with the taxi driver, on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.
In a follow-up raid on a subdivided flat in Man Yuen Street, Jordan, officers found three bags containing 42kg of ketamine with an estimated street value of HK$25 million.
“A total of 50kg of illegal drugs worth HK$38 million was seized in this anti-narcotics operation,” Ip said.
The chief inspector said an investigation suggested the drugs were for local consumption.
“The police operation successfully prevented this batch of illegal drugs from being circulated in the market,” she added.
She said the consignment was discovered when officers were investigating a local drug trafficking syndicate that used the industrial unit and subdivided flat as drug storage and distribution centres.
As of 2pm on Thursday, the taxi driver had been released on bail pending further investigation, while the other two suspects were still being held for questioning.
Tuesday’s seizure brought the total value of illegal narcotics intercepted by local authorities in major anti-drug operations this year to more than HK$860 million.
Separately, Hong Kong customs on Sunday arrested two men and seized HK$32 million worth of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside children’s car seats after a 17-day, round-the-clock surveillance operation that employed more than 150 officers.
Hong Kong customs seizes HK$32 million in crystal meth after 17-day operation
On February 23, customs officers seized a haul of cocaine valued at HK$126 million hidden in a shipment of South American grapes from Peru that was bound for mainland China.
On February 3, police made their biggest-ever seizure of ketamine, finding a 682kg stash with an estimated street value of HK$437 million in a Kwai Chung warehouse. The drugs were shipped from Pakistan in packages labelled as macaroni.
According to official statistics, seizures of ketamine in 2020 rose 71.9 per cent, to 471kg, compared with the year before. The amount of cocaine seized, however, dropped 24.4 per cent, to 1,269kg. Local authorities also seized 1,071kg of cannabis in 2020, a 186 per cent rise from 374kg in 2019.
