Hong Kong police arrest 5, seize HK$215 million in illegal drugs, including liquid cocaine disguised as wine from South America
- Five men detained on suspicion of trafficking in dangerous drug, with alleged ringleader among those arrested
- Police find suspected liquid cocaine disguised as wine in boxes originating from South America after raids on multiple sites
Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun of the narcotics bureau said on Friday that the five men comprised an alleged ringleader, two key figures and two 18-year-old students, who were each paid a few thousand Hong Kong dollars to deliver the haul.
Police arrested the five after investigations identified a local drug trafficking syndicate that was smuggling narcotics from overseas using different concealment methods and storing drugs in multiple locations to avoid detection before circulating them in the market.
After gathering evidence, officers raided an 80 sq ft office used by the racket for storage in a Kwai Chung industrial building on Wednesday and found 279 boxes of wine on the premises.
“We believe 426 bottles labelled as table wine, found in 71 of these boxes, were actually used as a disguise for the 320 litres [84 gallons] of suspected liquid cocaine,” Tam said.
Inside the flat, officers also seized a 1kg (2lbs) slab of what appeared to be cocaine, 400 grams of suspected ketamine and 740 grams of cannabis buds, he said.
The superintendent said police arrested three men, aged 18 to 23, who were unpacking boxes in the office at the time of the raid.