Tag: cocaine

Cocaine wrapped as Christmas gifts seized at Hong Kong airport, two men due in court

Two men accused of trafficking cocaine wrapped up as Christmas presents into Hong Kong are due in court on Monday.

Customs seized HK$30 million worth of the addictive stimulant from the luggage of two men, who were arrested after arriving at the city’s international airport on Friday. The two 25-year-old male passengers landed at Hong Kong International Airport on the same flight from Johannesburg, South Africa.

During the customs clearance, officers found a total of 24kg of the suspected cocaine in two of the men’s checked-in bags, which were packaged into 25 blocks and disguised with Christmas decorations and festive wrapping paper.

The two men have each been charged with one count of trafficking a dangerous drug. They will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The bust led customs officials to warn of a spike in drug smuggling for the festive season.

“With the Christmas and New Year holidays approaching, there is a possibility that drug syndicates need to traffic in dangerous drugs urgently in order to meet increased demand during the long holidays,” a spokesman for the department said.

“Customs will further step up enforcement action to combat transnational drug trafficking activities before the long holidays.”

Sources: SCMP, HK Customs and Excise Department

Hongkongers promised free tour of Maldives in return for smuggling 7kg of cocaine into city

Three Hongkongers were arrested for trying to smuggle 7kg of suspected cocaine into the city after being promised a free tour of the Maldives in return, police said on Tuesday.

Two men, aged 21 and 23, and a 21-year-old woman were intercepted at the airport’s customs clearance counter at about 9am on Monday after they collected their check-in luggage.

Senior Inspector Chan Mei-shi of the force’s Narcotics Bureau said 16 bags carrying the drugs were in secret compartments of the men’s suitcases. She said the consignment had an estimated street value of HK$8 million.

“We believe the men were hired by a drug trafficking syndicate and were responsible for bringing the haul into Hong Kong from the Maldives,” she said.

On Tuesday afternoon the two men were charged with drug trafficking and the woman was charged with conspiracy to traffic drugs. The trio was scheduled to appear at West Kowloon Court on Wednesday.

Chan said an initial investigation showed the three were recruited by a syndicate via a friend.

“They were offered free return tickets to the Maldives together with free accommodation and food,” she said, adding the trio were paid from HK$10,000 to HK$50,000 each as a reward and provided with a tour of the archipelago nation.

With the approach of Christmas and the new year, Chan appealed to youngsters not to fall for criminal get-rich-quick schemes.

“Criminals will offer youngsters huge rewards to lure them into bringing illegal drugs into or out of Hong Kong,” Chan said.

Source: South China Morning Post

Hong Kong customs seize HK$30 million worth of cocaine stashed in rims of container doors, admit smuggling problem is worsening

Hong Kong customs officers said they smashed a transnational drug smuggling syndicate on Monday, seizing a HK$30 million stash of cocaine and making three arrests.

The latest operation was the third large cocaine raid mounted by customs this year and the authorities admitted smuggling of the drug was a serious problem.

In the first six months of 2018, police and customs officers seized a total of 355kg of cocaine – almost double the 180kg haul in the same period last year.

The trio will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday morning charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug and manufacturing of a dangerous drug.

The 26kg of suspected cocaine in 36 packs was found hidden in the door rims of a 20-foot container which arrived at Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound from Colombia on August 22.

Chan Tsz-tat, head of customs’ ports and maritime command, said the shipping document declared the container held 1.4 tonnes of wooden baffles worth about US$2,800.

Suspicious of the origins, weight, and value of the declared items, officers examined the container by X-ray and found the colour around the rims of the doors was deeper.

“The items inside the container were just empty wooden boxes of poor quality instead of wooden baffles,” Chan said on Wednesday. “When officers knocked on the doors, the sound was different. The rims were completely sealed and we were not able to find anything. We passed the case to the customs drug investigation bureau for further investigation.”

Customs tailed the container to a metal shack in Yuen Long where they arrested the 32-year-old driver, a 52-year-old South American man, and another 32-year-old local man.

Source: SCMP 

Woman from Peru arrested at Hong Kong airport carrying 2.5kg of cocaine in her body

A 52-year-old woman from Peru arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday was carrying 2.5 kilograms of suspected cocaine in her body.

The woman arrived in Hong Kong via The Netherlands but was arrested during customs clearance after officials became suspicious because the woman walked slowly and awkwardly, Sing Tao Daily reported.

The woman ejected packets of suspected cocaine from her body during a check. The officers immediately sent her to North Lantau Hospital, where she discharged a total of 180 condoms with suspected liquid cocaine over two days.

The seized cocaine weighed about 2.5 kilograms in total and had an estimated street value of HK$2.3 million (US$294,462).

Officers said it was the biggest case of ingested drug trafficking caught by customs this year.

19 year old Ethiopian woman arrested with $2.4 million-value cocaine

Hong Kong Customs yesterday seized about 2.6 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $2.4 million at Hong Kong International Airport.

A female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Ethiopia yesterday afternoon. Upon examination of her hand-carry rucksack, Customs officers found the batch of suspected cocaine inside the false compartment of the rucksack. She was then arrested.

The arrested woman, aged 19, has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. She will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow.

Source: HK Customs and Excise Department

Four arrested as Hong Kong police smash crack cocaine lab in largest seizure of raw drug materials in 10 years

Hong Kong police have broken up a crack cocaine factory at a luxury flat in Yuen Long, seizing the largest haul of raw drug materials in 10 years and arresting four men, one of them Peruvian.

The ingredients – thought to have been flown into the city from Peru – could have made batches of the drug worth HK$59 million, officers said on Sunday.

The police operation, in Hung Shui Kiu on Friday, led to the seizure of 10kg of suspected crack cocaine and 150kg of materials to make the drug. The raw materials could have made another 50kg of drugs, the police said.

Four men aged between 19 and 38 were arrested. They included a Peruvian national who arrived in Hong Kong two weeks ago on a tourist visa, and is suspected to be the group leader. Officers said he was sent to the city to be the chemist for the operation.

The suspects were charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs and will appear at Tuen Mun Court on Monday. The maximum penalty for drug manufacturing is life imprisonment.

The syndicate rented a 1,000 sq ft luxury flat one month ago and tried to cover the smells emanating from their factory with fragrant oils.

According to police, drug cartels in Peru sent the raw materials by air cargo in 10 boxes. Customs officers did not detect the material because it was mixed with “acidic-smelling powders”.

Police said they believed it was the first time a luxury flat had been used as a base for making drugs.

“One of the reasons the syndicate chose to rent rather luxurious premises was that it provided a front to make it less suspicious and more difficult for us to detect [the factory],” Chief Superintendent Ma Ping-yiu, of the Narcotics Bureau, said.

Police also seized drug-making materials such as small stoves, flammable chemicals and other tools.

Source: SCMP

Tough justice: Colombian jailed for 16 years for bringing cocaine to Hong Kong to repay debts for his sister’s medicine

A Colombian drug mule who admitted trafficking more than HK$2.7 million worth of cocaine into Hong Kong to repay debts for his sister’s medicine was jailed for 16 years and eight months by a High Court judge on Friday.

Cesar Sanchez, 21, did not initially react to the sentence on one count of trafficking a dangerous drug. But he broke down in tears as his lawyers gathered around the dock to explain the sentence after the hearing.

The former butcher was convicted after stating through an interpreter: “I declare myself guilty.”

Sanchez was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport on October 26 last year after officers found five packets of paste, which contained 1,719 grams of cocaine, inside a rucksack.

According to prosecutors, he was offered up to US$35,000 to take the rucksack from Sao Paulo in Brazil. They said a man called Marcos came to his home and threatened to kill him or hurt his younger sister if he changed his mind about the trip.

Defense counsel Michael Arthur explained that his client had borrowed 5 million Colombian pesos (HK$13,127) from a loan shark to cover living expenses and medicine for his sister, 17.

Sanchez, as her primary caregiver, was earning a monthly wage of 900,000 pesos while she needed a million pesos a month to treat the lupus she was suffering.

When he could not meet repayment deadlines and the 20 percent daily interest, Sanchez reluctantly agreed to work for the loan shark, Arthur said.

“He regrets getting involved in drug trafficking,” Arthur continued. “This is an offense that is borne out of desperation.”

The court heard that Sanchez joined a campaign to write blogs and send letters back home to discourage fellow Colombians from taking drugs to Hong Kong.

But deputy High Court judge Madam Justice Susana D’Almada Remedios did not accept that as a mitigating factor. However, she reduced the initial 25-year sentence by a third because of his guilty plea.<

“Dangerous drug trafficking is a very, very serious offense,” she said. “It is unfortunate that people like yourself are targeted … I have every sympathy for persons like you.”

There were clear and binding sentencing guidelines laid down by the Court of Appeal, the judge said.

Under Hong Kong law, those convicted of trafficking dangerous drugs can be jailed for life and fined HK$5 million.

Source: SCMP