Hong Kong police arrest man in HK$1.4 million drugs seizure in Tsim Sha Tsui hotel room
- Officers uncovered Ice, cocaine and heroin in the operation, with the room believed to have been used as a drugs storage and distribution centre
- The amount of drugs seized by both police and customs last year has surged, with Ice leading the pack
Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested a man after uncovering HK$1.4 million (US$180,000) worth of suspected Ice and heroin in a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel room believed to have been used as a drugs storage and distribution centre.
Acting on intelligence, officers with a court warrant raided a hotel room in Minden Avenue at noon, where a small amount of Ice and cocaine was found on a 49-year-old man.
During the search, investigators also discovered 2.4kg of Ice, 90 grams of heroin, as well as packaging tools in the room. The HK$1.4 million narcotics haul is believed to be for local consumption in the district.
Inspector Kevin Tsu Ping-hei of Yau Tsim district on Friday said his team was looking into how long the man had rented the room.
Hong Kong comedian Richard Ng’s daughter arrested during HK$1 million drugs bust
“We have smashed the drug centre within a very short period of time and stopped the drugs from being circulated in the market in Kowloon, especially at entertainment premises in Yau Tsim district,” Tsu said.
The suspect has been detained for drug trafficking, an offence that carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
The amount of drugs seized by both police and customs last year has surged, with Ice leading the pack, as authorities netted close to 1,500kg of the drug – nine times of what they had confiscated in 2019. The amount of cannabis uncovered last year also tripled to 1,071kg from 374kg, while the amount of heroin seized skyrocketed eight times from 47kg to 368kg.
Police recorded 1,149 drug cases in 2020 and arrested 1,824 people, representing an 80 per cent increase in the number of such arrests compared to 2019 figures.
Last month, police arrested a couple and confiscated HK$20 million worth of suspected heroin in a raid on a public housing flat in Tin Shui Wai that was allegedly used as a drugs distribution centre.
Also in the same month, a garage worker was arrested over a HK$12 million drugs raid at an industrial building in Hung Hom. The ketamine and cannabis haul was discovered by narcotics bureau officers investigating a local trafficking gang that was using an industrial unit and a car park space to store and distribute the substances.
