Hong Kong customs arrests pair at airport on suspicion of trafficking HK$36 million worth of illegal drugs hidden in food shipments

An X-ray examination of their check-in luggage showed suspicious images, according to the Customs and Excise Department.

Hong Kong family of 4 arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking

Upon inspection, customs officers found 22 tins, 17 food containers and two gift boxes.

“We discovered signs of repackaging in the canned food items and food packaging boxes,” Chow said. “Food labels were not in Italian, which did not match their departure location. This also raised our officers’ suspicions.”

The senior inspector said officers seized 22kg of suspected liquid cocaine and 25kg of suspected ketamine inside the food shipments, adding the estimated street value of the confiscated narcotics was about HK$36 million.

The two suspects were still being held for questioning as of Tuesday.

Chow reminded the public, especially young people, not to participate in drug trafficking activities for money.

In Hong Kong, drug trafficking is an offence punishable by up to life in jail and a HK$5 million fine.

Hong Kong and Macau police arrest 3, seize HK$8.8 million in liquid cocaine

As of December 3, customs officers at the airport arrested 100 passengers on suspicion of smuggling narcotics into the city since the lifting of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Twenty alleged drug traffickers were apprehended during the same period last year.

The use of couriers to smuggle illegal drugs into the city largely stopped for 17 months during the pandemic.

The first traveller arrested for drug trafficking at the airport since January 2021 was a 63-year-old man who arrived from Brazil in May last year. He was among 20 couriers detained over the whole of 2022.