NEWS
HONG KONG: LIQUID COCAINE DISGUISED AS WINE AND LIQUOR ON THE RISE
By Staff Reporter
24-10-2019
Hong Kong authorities have seized a total of 36 liters of liquid cocaine disguised as wines and liquors in three operations in the past three months, all three cases involved traffickers from Malaysia.
The seized drug has an estimated market value of HKD36 million (USD4.8m), and indicates trafficking gangs from Southeast Asia are increasingly using wine and liquor bottles as disguise in drug trafficking.
The lastest case happened on 22 October when Hong Kong Customs seized 10 liters of suspected liquid cocaine at Hong Kong International Airport.
During Customs clearance on a male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, five liquor bottles each containing 2 liters of suspected liquid cocaine and two packets of suspected methamphetamine were found inside his suitcase.
The man, aged 30, was then arrested and was charged with two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug.
Less than a month ago on 19 September, Hong Kong police arrested four Malaysians, three men and one woman, in a raid on a Cheung Sha Wan flat in Kowloon.
Police seized nine 2-liter wine bottles holding HKD20m worth of suspected liquid cocaine during the operation.
On 8 August, Hong Kong Customs seized about 6.8 liters of suspected liquid cocaine contained in eight liquor bottles at Hong Kong International Airport.
The drug is estimated to have a market value of about HKD6.8m. Four male passengers, aged between 19 and 41, arrived from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia were arrested.
Under Hong Kong’s Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of HKD5m and life imprisonment.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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