Hong Kong police seize more than 370kg of illegal drugs worth HK$115 million, with some concealed in biscuits and tyres
- Four suspects arrested in three separate operations on same day; all likely to be charged with drug trafficking, according to police
- Haul includes 309kg of cannabis buds, a 75 per cent increase over total amount of marijuana seized by authorities in first quarter
The seized narcotics included 309kg of cannabis buds, which was 75 per cent more than the total amount of marijuana seized by authorities in the first quarter.
Chief Inspector Charm Yiu-kwong of the force’s narcotics bureau on Friday said that the seized cannabis buds were this year’s biggest haul of the drug in a single operation.
He said officers were investigating whether the same drug trafficking syndicate was involved in the three cases discovered on Thursday.
Hong Kong police find HK$3.8 million in drugs stashed in subdivided flat
In the first operation mounted at daybreak, police raided a three-storey village house in Lau Fau Shan, where they uncovered 12 bags containing 8kg of suspected heroin in powder form and six slabs of the drug weighing about 2kg.
Officers found 25 boxes of biscuits inside the residence. Senior Inspector Ng Ka-lun said the investigation found each biscuit had been stuffed with suspected heroin.
“In total, officers uncovered 4kg of suspected heroin in the 25 boxes of biscuits,” he said, adding that officers arrested a 35-year-old man inside the house.
Later that day, police lay in wait outside a unit at a Yuen Long industrial building. Officers arrested a woman from mainland China after intercepting her for a stop-and-search when she left the unit.
Hong Kong police seize HK$650 million worth of cocaine, cannabis buds
They found a bag containing 1kg of suspected heroin in a handbag she was carrying. The 22-year-old woman was arrested and then brought back to the premises for a follow-up search.
Eight vehicle tyres were discovered in the industrial unit. Inside one of the tyres, which was already cut open, officers found six bags that each carried 1kg of suspected crystal meth.
Ng said officers inspected the other seven tyres and discovered another 52kg of the same drug.
In the evening, officers intercepted a car and a delivery van in Ap Lei Chau. Inside the two vehicles, police discovered 21 nylon bags with a total of 309kg of suspected cannabis buds.
The two drivers, aged 36 and 40, were detained on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence punishable by up to life in jail and a HK$5 million fine.
The senior inspector said all four suspects were likely to be charged with drug trafficking and brought before Kwun Tong and Fanling courts on Saturday.
Charm said drug trafficking syndicates used various concealment methods to smuggle illegal drugs into the city in an attempt to avoid detection.
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He pledged that police would spare no effort to combat drug trafficking and target the import of narcotics directly at the source.
It was the second major drug seizure by police in a week. Between May 26 and 28, they uncovered 592kg of suspected cocaine and 91.2kg of suspected cannabis buds, with an estimated market value of HK$650 million. Police said some of the drugs were found hidden in boxes of frozen fish.
Provisional figures show seizures of the five major illegal drugs in the city – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – rose by 142 per cent to 1.9 tonnes between January and March this year from 797kg in the same period in 2022.
Cannabis seizures increased 327 per cent to 171kg between January and March this year from 40kg in the same period in 2022.
