South China Morning Post

HK$200m cocaine bust biggest of the year so far

Two held as 225kg of drug found in shipment of scrap metal from Suriname

Police have made their biggest cocaine seizure this year, confiscati­ng more than HK$200 million worth of the illegal drug hidden in 40 tonnes of scrap metal at a warehouse in the New Territorie­s.

Superinten­dent Wilson Tam of the force’s narcotics bureau yesterday said officers intercepte­d two cargo containers from South American country Suriname last week after receiving intelligen­ce, and discovered 225kg of cocaine bricks – the most found this year by police.

“We’ve noticed transnatio­nal drug syndicates have used internatio­nal logistics to traffic large amounts of suspected cocaine into Hong Kong,” he said.

Tam said officers traced the cargo to a 10,000 sq ft warehouse in Ping Che, near Fanling, and spent more than 15 hours on Friday examining every single piece of scrap metal among the 40 tonnes for hidden drugs.

Chief Inspector Charm Yiu-kwong of the bureau said the force found cocaine bricks in nine boxes made from I-shaped metal beams used in constructi­on.

“The syndicate hired workers who we believe had no knowledge of the drugs to unload the metal on-site, with syndicate members controllin­g the operation,” Charm said.

Police said officers found two workers and two alleged members of the syndicate at the warehouse, arresting the latter pair.

The cocaine had a street value of more than HK$200 million.

The two suspects arrested were an unemployed man surnamed Tse, 22, and a man surnamed Yip, 29, who worked as a handler.

The rest of the scrap metal found at the warehouse did not contain any drugs.

Tam said the force would have to investigat­e whether the bulk of the cocaine was meant for the local market or for transferri­ng to other countries.

But from past experience, he said, cargo shipments contained a larger amount of drugs, which would usually be stored locally before sale.

Tam said the force had received intelligen­ce that a shipment with drugs from Suriname would arrive in the city and located it by tracing cargo arrivals from the South American country.

“We have ways to investigat­e cargo shipments to the city, such as tracing order numbers,” he said.

The two suspects will appear at Fanling Court today for allegedly traffickin­g in illegal drugs.

Last year, police and the Customs and Excise Department intercepte­d 3,357kg of cocaine, a 55.7 per cent rise from 2022. The amount of ketamine, methamphet­amine, cannabis and heroin seized last year also rose by 25 per cent and 220 per cent.

Tam said the growing trend of large-scale busts was not unique to Hong Kong, citing a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime study that found the global supply of illegal drugs had been rising in recent years.

“That said, we will continue with our efforts to have joint operations and intelligen­ce exchanges with other law enforcemen­t agencies around the world to combat these drug-traffickin­g activities,” Tam said.

In May last year, police seized cocaine and cannabis with an estimated market value of about HK$650 million in several industrial buildings.

The haul, some of which was hidden in boxes of frozen fish, comprised 592kg of suspected cocaine and 91.2kg of suspected cannabis buds. Four men were arrested on suspicion of drug traffickin­g.

Last September, customs officers confiscate­d HK$180 million worth of cocaine in a raid on an industrial unit. A source said an investigat­ion indicated that the 230kg of drugs seized were intended for the local undergroun­d market.