Luxury flat in Sai Kung used as drug factory; Customs arrest man along with $72 million of cocaine

^{Some of the manufacturing equipment found in the bust Photo: HK Government}

Customs officers smashed a drug manufacturing and trafficking operation in Sai Kung, and seized nearly 55 kilograms of suspected cocaine with a market value of $72 million. A 25-year-old local man was arrested in the operation. He reported that he was a construction worker and is currently being detained for investigation. He will later be charged with drug production and drug trafficking and will appear in Kwun Tong Magistracy today.

The commander of the Second Group of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau, Fong Heung Wing, said that customs officers intercepted and searched a suspicious man in Sai Kung on the evening of 29 March. They found 2.2 kilograms of suspected cocaine and a small amount of cracked cocaine on his person and in the bag he was holding. The officers then searched a 600 sq ft rented luxury apartment nearby and found a safe containing 52 kilograms of suspected cocaine with a market value of $70 million, and about 620 g of suspected crack cocaine. The suspected drugs were mainly supplied to the local market.

^{The drugs had a street value of around $72 million Photo: Hong Kong Government}

Fong described the arrested man as a cocaine “boss” who manufactured crack cocaine in his unit, and his professional practices include making use of rare chemical raw materials and purifying crack cocaine with chemical materials to make the appearance whiter, thereby increasing the price.