Hong Kong police have arrested two men after seizing more than HK$3 million (US$383,406) worth of suspected illegal drugs in a subdivided flat allegedly used for the production of narcotics.
The force on Wednesday said officers from the Mong Kok special duties squad, acting on intelligence, stopped a 36-year-old man outside the flat on Soy Street in Mong Kok the day before.
Police found two packs of suspected crack cocaine, weighing about one gram in total, in his alleged possession.
“In a follow-up raid on the flat, officers discovered about 7kg of what appeared to be Ice [also known as crystal meth], 103.4 grams of suspected crack cocaine and 94.5 grams of suspected cocaine, along with some drug manufacturing equipment,” the force said.
“The illegal drugs found in the operation have an estimated street value of HK$3.14 million.”
5 arrested, HK$8.3 million in drugs seized in Hong Kong, Malaysia drug crackdown
5 arrested, HK$8.3 million in drugs seized in Hong Kong, Malaysia drug crackdown
Police then arrested the man along with another suspect, a 59-year-old, who was in the flat during the raid.
The two were detained on suspicion of drug trafficking and the manufacture of a dangerous drug – offences punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.
As of Wednesday morning, the two men were still being held for questioning.
The force said the investigation was still ongoing and further arrests were possible.
In a separate operation, officers from the Western district’s anti-triad squad arrested a 51-year-old woman after discovering illegal drugs worth HK$62,000, along with packaging equipment, in her hotel room in Aberdeen.
Police said the narcotics seized in the hotel room included 41 grams of crack cocaine and 11 grams of crystal meth.
Separately, police apprehended a 55-year-old driver after intercepting his car at a roadblock on Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long and seizing HK$92,400 worth of suspected crack cocaine from the vehicle at around 2.38am.
Provisional figures showed that seizures of the five major illegal drugs – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – in the first 10 months of last year doubled to 10.8 tonnes from 5.3 tonnes compared with the same period in 2022.
The amount of cocaine seized by police and customs between January and October last year reached 2,607kg, a 167 per cent jump from the 976kg uncovered over the same period in 2022.
Authorities also seized 3,013kg of crystal meth in the first 10 months of 2023, an increase of 96.7 per cent from 1,532kg found in the same period the year before.