Hong Kong police arrest 4, seize drugs worth HK$6.11 million in crackdown on syndicate using hotel rooms for storage
- Two men, woman arrested in hotel in Tsuen Wan, while another woman intercepted during raid on different hotel on Yeung Uk Road
- Suspects rented hotel rooms on short-term leases, frequently switching rooms in bid to avoid detection, police say
Hong Kong police have arrested four residents and confiscated suspected illegal narcotics worth HK$6.11 million (US$781,273 million) in a crackdown on a drug trafficking syndicate that used hotel rooms for storage.
Officers from the narcotics bureau, acting on intelligence, intercepted a 51-year-old man outside his room in a hotel on the Ting Kau section of Castle Peak Road in Tsuen Wan on Sunday afternoon, the force said on Tuesday.
“Inside his room, officers seized 50 grams [1.8oz] of suspected cocaine and 15 grams of crystal meth,” police said.
In the same hotel, police raided another room and seized an additional 35 grams of what appeared to be cocaine. According to the force, another 51-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were inside the room.
Officers seized about 6.3kg (14lbs) of suspected heroin and arrested a 47-year-old woman in a follow-up raid on another hotel room on Yeung Uk Road in the same district on the same day.
“The estimated street value of illegal drugs seized in the operation is about HK$6.11 million,” police said.
The two men and two women were detained on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.
“Investigations revealed drug traffickers used hotel rooms to store narcotics,” the force said.
Hong Kong police arrest 2, including teenager, on drug trafficking charges
“They attempted to avoid detection by renting hotel rooms on short-term leases and frequently switching rooms.”
Police said the operation had dealt a significant blow to the narcotics trafficking syndicate, preventing this batch of illegal drugs from circulating in the underground market.
According to the force, the investigation is still under way and further arrests have not been ruled out.
Provisional figures showed that seizures of the five major illegal drugs – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – rose by 68 per cent to 13.29 tonnes last year from 7.9 tonnes in 2022.
