Hong Kong customs seizes HK$33 million worth of cannabis buds in crackdown on party drugs ahead of festive season
- Authorities say 108kg of cannabis buds were disguised as instant oats and hidden in shipping container from Canada
- Officers arrest 25-year-old suspect, seize another 45kg of the drug in follow-up raids at industrial units in Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun
Hong Kong customs has confiscated HK$33 million (US$4.2 million) worth of cannabis buds, as authorities step up a crackdown on party drugs ahead of the festive season.
About two-thirds of the 153kg haul was disguised as instant oats and hidden in a shipping container which arrived from Canada on Monday, according to the Customs and Excise Department.
A shipment carrying 1,160 boxes of oats was selected for inspection based on a risk assessment by officers after it arrived at the Tsing Yi Customhouse cargo examination compound.
Officers opened the container after detecting suspicious images during inspection.
“The drug was found concealed in 108 boxes which carried one kilogram of suspected cannabis buds in each box. The 108kg haul has an estimated street value of HK$23 million,” assistant superintendent Philip Chan Siu-kau of customs’ drug investigation bureau said on Friday. The other 1,052 boxes carried oats.