Suspects arrested, HK$470,000 worth of crystal meth seized in Hong Kong hotel room raid

Hong Kong police have arrested two residents after discovering HK$470,000 (US$60,176) worth of an illegal drug during a raid on a hotel room suspected to have been used as a packaging facility.

After receiving intelligence, the Yau Tsim special duties squad conducted the raid on the Shanghai Street hotel in Mong Kok on Monday.

“In the hotel room, officers discovered 830 grams of suspected crystal meth along with packaging equipment,” a police spokesman said on Tuesday. “The seized narcotics have an estimated street value of HK$470,000.”

Officers arrested a 21-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man during the raid.

The pair 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.

As of Tuesday morning, the two suspects were still being held for questioning.

Police said the force had “zero tolerance” for all drug-related activities.

Provisional figures show seizures of five major illegal drugs in the city – cocaine, cannabis, crystal meth, heroin, and ketamine – dropped by 28.6 per cent to 5.3 tonnes between January and October last year from 7.4 tonnes logged in the same period in 2021.

The figures did not include a HK$1.1 billion haul of liquid meth disguised as cartons of coconut water which was seized by customs officers in October. The 1.8-tonne haul is Hong Kong’s biggest seizure of drugs by value and the second largest by weight. Customs confiscated 7.2 tonnes of cannabis in 1996.