Hong Kong Customs officers of the Airport Command cracked two cases of drug trafficking by means of express air parcels at the Hong Kong International Airport last week.
They seized 0.5 kilogram of ketamine in a hollowed-out book on November 16, and one kilogram of cocaine in 10 pairs of hollowed-out slippers sent by express parcels on November 17.
For the first time, Customs officers uncovered two new drug-trafficking routes, namely smuggling of ketamine from the Netherlands into Hong Kong, and cocaine from Brazil to Guangzhou, Mainland via Amsterdam, Netherlands and Hong Kong.
In the first case, Customs officers on November 16 inspected a parcel from the Netherlands which was declared as a literature book. After examination, they found 20 packets of ketamine of about 25 gram each wrapped in a piece of carbon paper. The dangerous drugs, with a retail value of about $130,000, were concealed inside a hollowed-out book.
On the following day (November 17), Customs officers conducted a controlled delivery operation and arrested a recipient of the parcel, a 46-year-old local man. The arrested man was later released on bail pending further investigation.
The transshipment parcel in the second case was declared as gifts. Upon examination, 10 pairs of slippers with hollowed- out soles, with each sole holding one packet of about 50 grams of cocaine. The seized cocaine carried a retail value of about $750,000
Customs investigation is underway and no person has been arrested so far.
"Stamping out drug trafficking necessitates transnational cooperation, and it is very important to combat such unlawful activities at its source." a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department said, "Hong Kong Customs will continue to cooperate closely with its overseas and Mainland counterparts in the fight against drug trafficking." He stressed that Customs officers at control points would remain vigilant at all times to clamp down drug trafficking activities.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the maximum penalty for the offence of trafficking in dangerous drugs is life imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.
Ends/Monday, November 21, 2005