Hong Kong police seize HK$77 million worth of heroin, arrest 2 in crackdown on triad-controlled drug trafficking gang
- After receiving a tip-off, officers from narcotics bureau lay in wait at Mei Foo Sun Chuen, a private housing estate in Lai Chi Kok, and arrested pair who arrived by car
- Suspects, aged 40 and 41, later escorted to high-end flat in Cheung Sha Wan, where officers found 246 slabs of suspected heroin on top of 6kg one man carried
After receiving a tip-off, police began investigating the syndicate, which used an upscale flat for storing narcotics, according to the force on Thursday.
On Wednesday morning, officers from the narcotics bureau lay in wait at Mei Foo Sun Chuen, a private housing estate in Lai Chi Kok.
Shortly before 10am, a car carrying two men drove in and pulled over on Broadway and one of them left the vehicle and entered a nearby building.
As the man left the building, officers moved in and intercepted him. Police seized 19 slabs of suspected heroin – weighing 6kg in total – in a bag he was carrying.
Police arrested him and the other man on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug.
On the same day, the two suspects, aged 40 and 41, were escorted to a high-end flat on Sham Mong Road in Cheung Sha Wan, where officers discovered another 246 slabs of suspected heroin with a total weight of 77.5kg, according to Senior Inspector Law Kai-yin.
Police seize suspected cocaine worth HK$136 million, arrest Hong Kong man
He said the illegal narcotics seized in the operation had an estimated street value of HK$77 million.
“Police have successfully prevented this large quantity of illegal drugs from circulating in the underground market,” Law said.
He said the investigation indicated the haul involved a triad-controlled drug trafficking syndicate and the operation had struck a major blow to its income source.
As of Thursday afternoon, the two suspects were still being held for questioning.
3 arrested as Hong Kong police seize HK$45 million in drugs from two locations
In Hong Kong, drug trafficking is punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.
Provisional figures show seizures of five major illegal drugs in the city – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – rocketed by 55 per cent to 7,905kg last year from 5,075kg in 2021.
But the amount of heroin seized dropped 20 per cent to 327kg in 2022 from 410kg the year before.
