Officers from the Mong Kok special duty squad are investigating the case. Photo: Warton Li
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3094528/hong-kong-police-arrest-suspected-drug-trafficker Law and Crime
Hong Kong police arrest suspected drug trafficker, seize HK$1.5 million worth of illegal drugs from hotel room
- About 3kg of suspected ketamine was seized from a hotel room on Pei Ho Street in Sham Shui Po
- The 24-year-old man is still being held for questioning and has not been charged
Officers seized about 3kg of suspected ketamine from a hotel room in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Handout
A suspected drug trafficker has been arrested with the seizure of HK$1.5 million worth of illegal drugs from his hotel room in Hong Kong, police said on Friday.
Acting on a tip-off, officers intercepted the 24-year-old man at a hotel on Pei Ho Street, Sham Shui Po, at about 10pm on Thursday.
“Inside his hotel room, about 3kg of suspected ketamine was confiscated,” a police spokesman said.
He said the haul had an estimated street value of HK$1.5 million.
Police arrested the man for drug trafficking – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of a life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.
As of Friday morning, the suspect was still being held for questioning and had not been charged. Officers from the Mong Kok special duty squad are investigating the case.
About three hours before the arrest, police intercepted another man, aged 19, and seized 11 grams of ketamine on him in another operation at Tai Wai railway station in Sha Tin at about 7.30pm on Thursday. Police said the drug was worth about HK$5,500.
Customs officers at Hong Kong airport’s cargo terminal seized about 118kg of ketamine hidden in inbound air parcels in the first half of this year. According to the Customs and Excise Department, 85 per cent of the drugs were airmailed into the city from Europe.
Between January and June this year, illegal drugs worth more than HK$550 million were seized at the cargo terminal as coronavirus travel restrictions forced international syndicates to use airborne shipments rather than mules.
About 1.47 tonnes of drugs were seized from air cargo packages mailed in and out of the city in the first half of the year, up 127 per cent from 645kg found over the same period last year.