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Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a suspected triad member and seized more than HK$30 million (US$3.8 million) worth of cannabis buds in a crackdown on a newly established illegal drug storage centre in the New Territories.
Investigations revealed the storage facility in the ground-floor flat of a two-storey house at Kam Tsin Village in Sheung Shui went into operation last week and the 159kg consignment was moved in several days before being uncovered on Thursday morning, according to a customs official.
“We believe the seized drug was for local consumption and young abusers would have been their targeted customers during the summer holidays,” Henry Fong Heung-wing, a divisional commander from customs’ drug investigation bureau, said on Friday.
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He said a local drug ring behind the haul probably tried to take advantage of the re-opening of entertainment venues, after the prolonged closure throughout the coronavirus pandemic, by bringing in the drug to make quick cash.
The Post has learned that the Wo Shing Wo triad member arrested on Thursday was also linked to another haul of 383 marijuana plants customs officers found when they closed down an indoor farm in Pat Heung in July last year.
Acting on intelligence and a follow-up investigation, customs officers staged an ambush outside the house on Thursday morning. They intercepted the 30-year-old man when he left the house at about 10.30am.
One kilogram of suspected cannabis buds concealed in two vacuum-packed bags was found in a paper bag he was allegedly carrying.
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The man was escorted into the ground-floor flat, where officers found another 158kg of the drug in 10 red-white-blue nylon bags in the living room. It was an empty flat without furniture or decoration. To prevent outsiders from looking into the flat, the living room’s windows were closed and covered with a large piece of red cloth.
“Inside the nylon bags, the drug was concealed in 260 vacuum-packed bags that were used to suppress the smell,” Fong said.
He said customs officers seized 159kg of suspected cannabis buds in total in the raid and the haul had an estimated street value of more than HK$30 million, adding that it was the biggest seizure of cannabis buds they had uncovered in a storage centre since records began two decades ago.
He said an initial investigation suggested the consignment was smuggled into the city from North America and they were still looking into the distribution network.
“The raid had prevented this haul of illegal drug from being circulated in the black market,” Fong said.
Customs officers are still trying to track down other key figures in the syndicate and the tenant who rented the flat.
The suspect was detained on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug, an offence punishable by up to life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine. As of Friday afternoon, he was still being held for questioning.
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The single haul of 159kg of cannabis buds is a 20 per cent rise from 132kg of the drug customs officers seized this year. In the first seven months of 2021, they confiscated nearly 84kg of the drug.
The number of young drug abusers aged under 21 who were reported to have used cannabis rose 48 per cent from 326 in 2020 to 483 last year, according to data from the Security Bureau’s Narcotics Division.
Customs officers confiscated 1.16 tonnes of illegal drugs at the city’s airport in the first half of this year, double the 580kg of narcotics seized during the same period in 2021. The value of the contraband found this year was worth about HK$600 million, up more than 30 per cent from the HK$460 million recorded in the first six months of last year.
Seizures of five major illegal drugs – cocaine, cannabis, crystal meth, heroin and ketamine – totalled 10,627kg in 2021, more than double the figure for the year before.
Figures show seizure of cannabis surged by 95 per cent to 2,088kg in 2021 from 1,071kg in 2020.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong customs seizes 3.8 tonnes of date rape drug GBL in first half of 2022, dwarfing amount detected over past decade
- UN drugs report: Cannabis use has risen with legalisation and Covid-19 lockdowns
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