Nearly HK$28 million worth of ketamine found in boxes of spices at Hong Kong airport
- X-ray of air consignment from Pakistan reveals 50 bags of suspicious powder
- Authorities arrest a 19-year-old man who came to collect the consignment and a 41-year-old truck driver
Nearly HK$28 million (US$3.6 million) worth of suspected ketamine was found hidden in boxes of spices at Hong Kong’s international airport, in the biggest seizure of the drug at the transport hub in two years.
Authorities arrested two people on Saturday after customs officers examined a 200kg air consignment declared as food shipped from Pakistan and an X-ray found 50 bags of suspicious substance inside. The bags were declared as spices, but signs of repackaging were also detected.
Customs officers opened the bags and found white crystalline powder, which they suspected was ketamine after carrying out an ion scanner check.
The 50kg haul was valued at HK$27.8 million, which makes it the biggest seizure of its kind at the airport since 2019.
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Officers arrested a 19-year-old man who came to collect the consignment at 2.30am. He claimed to be a packaging worker. A 41-year-old truck driver was also later arrested at the airport.
Customs said an investigation showed the consignee appearing on the air waybill was a food importer with significant business in the city.
Officers suspected drug traffickers were trying to avoid having the packages selected for a check by filling in the address of the food importer on the related documents.
In January 2019, customs officers seized 120kg of ketamine, finding HK$57 million worth of the drug at the airport in a consignment from Malaysia.
