Hong Kong police seize biggest haul of cocaine

HONG KONG, April 4 -- The Hong Kong police said on Sunday that they have busted two drug trafficking cases recently and seized about 706 kg of cocaine in one of them, which was the largest cocaine haul seized in Hong Kong.

On April 2, the police intercepted a man in Fo Tan, the New Territories, and found 165 kg cocaine in five cardboard boxes in his cart. Another 495 kg of cocaine was found by the police in a unit of an industrial building nearby. The following day, the police intercepted another man and found 46 kg of cocaine in his home in Sha Tin.

Senior Superintendent of the police's narcotics bureau Ng Kwok-cheung told a press briefing that the drugs seized were believed to be originated in South America, and were brought into Hong Kong waters by ocean-going vessels and recently transported ashore by speedboat.

The police cracked another drug trafficking case in Sau Mau Ping, Kowloon, on April 2, when a man was involved and 29 kg of methamphetamine and 400 g of heroin bricks were seized. The police believed that the drugs were from Southeast Asian countries.

The police said that there has been a rising trend of drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, ketamine and heroin, found in Hong Kong in recent years.

The police said due to the traveling restrictions under the epidemic, drug trafficking groups no longer trafficked drugs in small batches, but hid them in bulk in legal goods.

Under Hong Kong's Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking of a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of 5 million HK dollars (about 643,002 U.S. dollars) and life imprisonment.