Hong Kong police seize 28 packets of cannabis-infused sweets as part of HK$10 million haul of illegal drugs from raids on 2 flats
- Sweets part of haul that included 7kg of suspected cocaine, 4kg of heroin, 1kg of crystal meth, 100 grams of ketamine and 600 grams of Ecstasy tablets
- Officers arrest 38-year-old man on suspicion of drug trafficking after raid on two flats in Shau Kei Wan and North Point
Twenty-eight packets of cannabis-infused sweets were among a HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) haul of illegal drugs found during police raids on two subdivided flats in Hong Kong.
Police on Thursday said they had arrested a man, 38, the day before over managing the flats in Shau Kei Wan and North Point that were allegedly used by a drug trafficking syndicate for storage.
Officers uncovered 28 packets of the sweets weighing 1kg (2lbs) in total at the North Point premises, according to Senior Inspector Tam Wai-lok of the force’s narcotics bureau. The raids also uncovered suspected cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, ketamine and Ecstasy.
“The seized cannabis sweets are packaged and appear to be just like regular ones,” he said.
“Previously, there have been cases of children accidentally consuming cannabis sweets in Hong Kong, putting their lives at risk. This shows it is not as harmless to people’s health as claimed by drug traffickers.”
In June, police arrested a 25-year-old father and his female cousin after she accidentally fed his two daughters sweets suspected to contain prohibited cannabidiol, which is derived from cannabis plants. The incident landed the two sisters, aged two and four, in hospital.
Officers from the narcotics bureau in the latest case set up an ambush on Wednesday at a building in Shau Kei Wan.
They stopped and searched the 38-year-old at the site in the afternoon. Officers seized two bags of suspected cocaine weighing about 45 grams (2 ounces) that he was carrying in his pockets.
He was taken to a subdivided flat in the same building, where police seized another 7kg of suspected cocaine, 4kg of heroin, 1kg of crystal meth, 100 grams of ketamine and 600 grams of Ecstasy tablets.
In a follow-up raid on the North Point flat later in the day, police seized another 800 grams of suspected cocaine and ketamine along with 28 packets of cannabis sweets.
Tam said the seized narcotics had an estimated street value of HK$10.7 million.
Police arrested the man on suspicion of drug trafficking, which is punishable by up to life in jail and a HK$5 million fine.
According to the senior inspector, the suspect is a Bangladeshi man who holds a recognisance form – temporary immigration papers that allow people to remain in the city, but not work.
Tam said the drug trafficking syndicate stored narcotics in different subdivided flats in an attempt to avoid detection and reduce losses if the substances were seized at one location.
The investigation was ongoing and further arrests were possible, the force said.
Figures showed the seizure of five major illegal drugs in the city – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – surged by two-thirds to 3,712kg in the first five months of the year from 2,227kg in the same period in 2022.
