Hong Kong Customs detects largest liquid cocaine case

HONG KONG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Customs has seized about 444 kg of suspected liquid cocaine with an estimated market value of about 490 million Hong Kong dollars (about 63 million U.S. dollars), representing a record seizure of liquid cocaine, the customs said Monday.

Acting on intelligence analysis, customs officers on Dec. 19 last year selected a 20-foot seaborne container for inspection and found 148 packages of suspected liquid cocaine packed in transparent plastic bags with a total weight of about 444 kg.

The container, arriving in Hong Kong from Brazil, was declared as carrying wine and grape juice, and the suspected drug was inside 37 out of 706 carton boxes of wine.

Customs officers arrested a 38-year-old man who claimed to be unemployed and a 50-year-old man who claimed to be a transportation company owner on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

An investigation is ongoing and the likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out, the customs said.