In a joint operation codenamed "Blade Run" mounted on December 17, 2005, Customs officers from the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau of Hong Kong Customs and the Anti-smuggling Bureau of Shenzhen Customs smashed a cross-boundary drugs syndicate active in Hong Kong and Guangdong.
In the operation, Hong Kong Customs officers seized from a hotel room in Yau Ma Tei 10 kilograms of ketamine with retail value of about $2.6 million.
At the same time, Shenzhen Customs officers conducted operation in the Mainland seizing 2.5 kilograms of drugs, including ketamine, cocaine and cannabis and netting 12 persons.
Acting on intelligence from Shenzhen Customs, Hong Kong Customs Officers searched two hotel rooms respectively in Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui at around 6am on December 17.
As a result, they seized from a piece of luggage kept in a wardrobe of a hotel room in Yau Ma Tei 10 kilograms of ketamine. They were packaged as ten bags of Indian foodstuff.
No arrest has been made by Hong Kong Customs so far.
Hong Kong Customs believed that the seized drugs were smuggled into Hong Kong from India, temporarily kept in the hotel and intended to be smuggled in lots by traffickers to Shenzhen for sale.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, drug trafficking is a serious offence and the maximum penalty is life imprisonment and a fine of $5 million.
Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2006