HONG KONG: Hong Kong police arrested 10 people and confiscated illegal drugs with an estimated street value of more than HK$15 million in four separate operations in six hours across the city.
One of the suspects was a 19-year-old man who was picked up by officers from the Narcotics Bureau outside a Tai Chung Kiu Road flat in Sha Tin at about 9.45pm last night.
Police seized 5kg of what appeared to be methamphetamine, also known as Ice, in the carton of an Xbox video game he was allegedly carrying.
“Inside the flat, officers seized another 42kg of suspected drug Ice,” a police spokesman said adding that the haul had an estimated street value of HK$14.8 million.
“Initial investigation showed the drug was for local consumption and that the suspect was a drug courier,” a police source said.
The Narcotics Bureau launched an investigation after receiving a tip-off. Officers were investigating the drug’s source.
This afternoon, the suspected drug trafficker was being held for questioning and had not been charged.
In the early hours today, anti-triad officers from Tai Po police district arrested two Hongkongers – a man, 33, and woman, 28 – and seized 250 grams of suspected cocaine and 30 grams of suspected ketamine inside a car.
The pair were picked up after officers intercepted the car at Po Heung Street in Tai Po at about 2am. The illegal drugs could be sold for HK$300,000 in the city’s illegal market, according to police.
Separately, police closed down a drug den in Sham Shui Po and a drug-packaging centre in Sau Mau Ping and between the two operations nabbed seven people – six men and one woman – both at about 8pm last night.
During the operations, officers confiscated illegal drugs worth about HK$17,600, along with packaging equipment.
According to police, the drug den and packaging centre were operated in two public housing flats. Investigations were continuing.
Figures from the Fight Crime Committee showed cocaine seizures rose 95 per cent to 199kg in the first eight months of this year, up from 102 for the same period last year. Officers seized 462kg of ketamine and 311kg of the drug Ice between January and August this year.
