Hong Kong police seize 610kg of cocaine worth HK$620 million in their second biggest bust of the drug on record
- Man arrested after hundreds of slabs of the drug were found within frozen fruit juice delivery from Brazil
- Police say fruit juice ploy is first they have seen but warn drug traffickers they will never outwit the law
Hong Kong police have arrested a 28-year-old man after seizing HK$620 million (US$79.5 million) worth of cocaine hidden in barrels of frozen fruit juice arriving from Brazil, the force’s second largest bust of the drug to date.
Narcotics bureau officers found 508 slabs of suspected cocaine weighing 610kg in total when they inspected two containers holding 256 barrels of frozen juice at a logistics company in Tin Shui Wai on Friday. The drugs were packed in seven barrels stored in one of the containers, which had been shipped over from São Paulo.
Police on Saturday arrested an unemployed man at an industrial building in Kwai Chung on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Chan Kong-ming, superintendent for operations at the bureau, told a press conference on Monday morning the cocaine had an estimated market value of HK$620 million.
Police’s largest cocaine bust came in April this year and involved 700kg of cocaine worth about HK$900 million.
“Smuggling drugs by concealing them in other goods is not a new strategy, but this is the first time we’ve seen them hidden in containers of juice,” Chan said.
“Because the juice was frozen while they were shipped to Hong Kong, it was very difficult for officers to discover that there was something hidden within the barrels.”
The 28-year-old man’s case was to be mentioned at West Kowloon Court on Monday afternoon. An investigation was continuing and police did not rule out further arrests.
