Hong Kong police arrest 2 men, seize HK$100 million in suspected cocaine hidden in cargo container, vehicles
The two cars were used as mobile storage units by a drug trafficking syndicate, he added.
Further investigations led officers to uncover another 75kg of the suspected narcotic in a vacated container used as an office in the Lung Yeuk Tau area of Fanling the following day.
“In the empty container, officers discovered 75 slabs of suspected cocaine weighing 75kg hidden in a secret compartment under the container’s floor,” the superintendent said.
He added that the estimated value of the seized drug was nearly HK$100 million.
6 arrested, cocaine worth HK$57 million hidden as chicken pate seized in Hong Kong
Another two men, aged 15 and 27, were arrested last Thursday after 3.9kg of suspected Ketamine worth HK$18 million was found in two flats in To Kwa Wan and Sheung Shui as part of a separate operation against a triad-controlled syndicate that smuggled illegal drugs into the city by air.
In a follow-up operation on Friday, police intercepted seven parcels, carrying 36kg of suspected ketamine, smuggled into the city from Europe with the help of customs officers.
On Friday and Saturday, police arrested four other men and seized 33kg of suspected ketamine and 10.4kg of cannabis buds in a series of raids against another two drug trafficking syndicates.
Tam said police had successfully prevented the seized drugs from being distributed in the city’s underground market, adding that investigations into the four cases were still under way and further arrests were possible.
The superintendent said the four drug trafficking syndicates involved used different methods to smuggle illegal drugs into the city and store the narcotics.
“The source of the drugs may involve smuggling from Europe, South America and Southeast Asia through various means such as air freight, passenger transport, and mailing,” he said.
Cocaine beats cannabis as top drug among young Hong Kong substance abusers
He said police would continue to carry out intelligence-led operations to combat drug trafficking activities.
Chief Superintendent Ng Wing-sze, who heads the bureau, said narcotics traffickers tended to approach young people online and lure them into bringing illegal drugs into the city by offering free overseas air tours, as well as monetary rewards.
She appealed to youngsters not to fall for such get-rich-quick schemes offered by criminals.
In Hong Kong, trafficking in a dangerous drug is punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.