Hong Kong customs seizes HK$3.4 million worth of suspected drugs, arrests 2 men

Hong Kong customs seized 6.5kg of suspected drugs in two operations.

Photo: Handout Hong Kong customs officers have seized 6.5kg of suspected drugs worth about HK$3.4 million (US$433,800) and arrested two men in separate cases earlier this week.

The Customs and Excise Department said on Friday that the first arrest occurred two days earlier at Hong Kong International Airport, when officers found 3.1kg (6.8lbs) of suspected ketamine in the baggage of a 43-year-old man arriving from Bangkok.

The department said the suspected drug was concealed inside food packaging in the baggage.

In the second case, officers intercepted a man, aged 41, during an anti-narcotics operation in Yau Ma Tei on Thursday.

Officers escorted him to a nearby hotel room where, in a subsequent search, they found about 1.7kg of suspected cocaine and about 1.7kg of suspected “Ice”, or methamphetamine.

Officers also found “a drug inhaling apparatus and a batch of drug packaging paraphernalia”, according to the department.

The man was subsequently arrested. “The [two] arrested persons have been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug respectively and will appear at the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts [on April 4],” the department said on Friday.

Customs said they would step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis.

The department also warned people against taking part in drug trafficking activities. “They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people, nor to release their personal data or home address to others for receiving parcels or goods,” the department said.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the maximum penalty for drug trafficking is a HK$5 million fine and life imprisonment.

原文链接: 南华早报