Hong Kong customs uncovers HK$260 million haul of cocaine in shipment of frozen chicken feet from Brazil
- 300kg of cocaine, hidden in 30 out of 1,800 boxes of frozen chicken feet, was uncovered last month after the shipment was selected for inspection
- Syndicate used a bogus business registration document to apply for an import permit for the cargo
Hong Kong customs officers seized a HK$260 million (US$33.2 million) haul of cocaine hidden in a shipment of frozen chicken feet from Brazil and arrested three local residents in their biggest seaborne smuggling case involving the drug in a decade, a senior official revealed on Thursday.
The 300kg consignment, hidden in 30 out of 1,800 boxes of the frozen food, was uncovered on December 22 when the shipment was selected for inspection at the Kwai Chung Customhouse examination compound. A truck driver, 67, was arrested when he turned up to collect the cargo on the same day.
The official revealed details of the operation less than 24 hours after officers netted two more men, aged 38 and 72, in Tsing Yi and Kowloon City on Wednesday.
Customs officials are trying to track down others behind a drug trafficking syndicate that used a bogus business registration document of a local food company to apply for an import permit for the cargo.
Assistant Superintendent Philip Chan Siu-kau of customs’ drug investigation bureau said it was the biggest haul of cocaine they discovered in 2022, pushing the total seizure of the drug to 1,016kg last year. They found 870kg of cocaine in 2021.
He said the investigation suggested some of the cocaine was for local consumption and the remainder destined for a country such as Australia. Cocaine’s street value in Australia is four to five times higher than in Hong Kong.
The shipment of frozen chicken feet arrived in the city by sea in a cargo container from Brazil on December 20. It was selected for inspection because the company the syndicate used to apply for the import permit did not have any record of importing or exporting food.
Assistant Superintendent Alex Wong Kei-cheung of customs’ containerised cargo examination unit said officers had noticed the cargo sender’s address was a flat in Brazil, arousing suspicion.
He said they decided to open the boxes for inspection after suspicious images were detected in an X-ray examination.
Chan said 300 slabs of cocaine – weighing 1kg each – were found hidden in 30 of the 1,800 boxes.
“Tens slabs of the drug were found hidden under two bags of frozen food in each box. Each slab was stuffed into a balloon and sealed,” he said.
As the drugs were stored in a refrigerated container, he said, balloons were used because they were moisture-proof.
“The packaging method was used to contain the smell of the drug and avoid it being picked up by our sniffer dogs,” Chan said.
He said the haul had an estimated street value of HK$260 million, adding that the investigation was ongoing and further arrests were possible.
The truck driver has been released unconditionally. The other two suspects were released on bail pending further investigation.
In Hong Kong, the street value of cocaine dropped to about HK$860 a gram in January this year from HK$1,300 per gram in early 2022.
A source familiar with the trend said the supply of cocaine had increased last year because of a good harvest in South America, causing the price drop.
The 300kg consignment was discovered six days before police seized 424kg of cocaine worth about HK$366 million in the New Territories, making it the largest haul of the drug last year.
In the police operation on December 28, officers from the narcotics bureau found 396 slabs of the drug – each weighing about 1kg – hidden in a hole in a Yuen Long warehouse. A wooden board and some debris covered the hole, with a car parked on top.
Another 28kg of cocaine was later discovered in a metal hut used by the same syndicate in the district. Police arrested four men and a woman in the operation.
Provisional figures show police and customs confiscated 976kg of cocaine in the first 10 months of last year, down 43.8 per cent from 1,736kg they found in the same period of 2021.
