By EFE
Nov 10, 2023, 00:13 AM EST
Hong Kong Police and Customs seized cocaine worth $49.9 million in a shipment of marshmallows from America, the largest seizure of this drug this year.
The chief inspector of the Police Narcotics Bureau, Chu Siu-lun, stated that two men – a resident of the city and an Ecuadorian – They were arrested after sneaking onto a freighter to supposedly guard the shipment of 318 kilos ofe cocaine hidden in containers on board bound for Asia.
The drugs were sealed in nine waterproof bags attached to life jackets and inflatable buoys inside a maritime container, and were scheduled to be unloaded from a cargo ship in Jordan, according to local media.
“There is no evidence to show that the narcotics were destined for Hong Kong“said the official, who added that the operation remains open and new arrests are not ruled out.
The two detainees, aged 19 and 24, remain in police custody for alleged drug trafficking, a crime punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of more than 64,000.
The ship in which the drugs were found left Guatemala bound for Mexico, passing through Ecuador, Peru and Panama, and planned to stop in Hong Kong before leaving for Jordan.
Prior to the ship’s arrival, Deputy Superintendent Alex Wong Kei-cheung of Customs’ Container Cargo Inspection Division stated that the shipping documents were studied and a shipment of three containers was identified, which according to the documents , they carried marshmallows.
Once the cargo ship docked at Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung container terminal on Tuesday afternoon, inspectors boarded to examine it and discovered “vacuum-sealed packets of white powder” whose samples “tested positive for cocaine.”
This is the third major drug seizure made in Hong Kong in recent weeks.
Thus, on November 1, customs officials seized illegal drugs worth about $19 million hidden in a shipment of machinery parts from North America.
On October 26, authorities made their largest seizure of crystal methamphetamine, a shipment valued at $82 million in a shipment of snail shells from Mexico.
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