Hong Kong customs seizes HK$5.8 million of heroin hidden among durians

Officers conducted a controlled delivery operation in Mong Kok which resulted in the arrest of three men, aged between 25 and 53, who were suspected to be connected to the case.

The investigation is ongoing.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in such substances is a severe offence punishable by a maximum penalty of a HK$5 million fine and life imprisonment.

Customs made the biggest seizure of liquid meth in the city this year in June, confiscating HK$140 million worth of the drug that was disguised as chilli sauce and smuggled in from Mexico.

Thai police that month arrested four men at Bangkok’s airport who were allegedly carrying a suitcase containing 40 slabs of heroin estimated to be worth HK$10 million, said to be bound for Hong Kong.

Customs earlier said the amount of illegal drugs confiscated from air travellers at Hong Kong International Airport soared to 370kg in the first four months of this year, a 32 per cent increase over the amount seized in all of last year.

Officers seized about 10kg of suspected ketamine on Friday at the city’s airport and arrested an incoming passenger, a 21-year-old man arriving from Paris via Bangkok.

The passenger was allegedly carrying HK$5 million worth of suspected ketamine that was discovered during customs clearance procedures.

The drug was found in 10 packs of food inside the man’s check-in baggage, authorities said.

He was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will be brought to West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.