Hong Kong police arrest 4, seize illegal drugs worth HK$16 million in public housing flat
- Officers arrest man and three women on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug after raid on Tin Shui Wai residence
The force said on Thursday that officers believed a criminal syndicate had paid a resident of Heng Tung House in Tin Shui Wai’s Tin Heng Estate to use the flat to store narcotics.
Officers from the Narcotics Bureau detained a 27-year-old man who they said was behaving suspiciously outside the residential building on Wednesday.
Police seized 62kg (137lbs) of what appeared to be cannabis buds and 437 grams of suspected ketamine inside his flat, along with packaging equipment.
The force said the seized drugs had an estimated street value of more than HK$16 million.
Three women aged between 28 and 59 were inside the flat at the time of the raid.
The four were arrested on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.
“We believe our operation has broken up a drug trafficking group and successfully prevented the batch of the illegal drugs from being circulated in the market,” the force said.
Police said the man was charged with one count of drug trafficking and was scheduled to appear in Tuen Mun Court on Friday. The three women were released on bail, pending further investigation.
The combined seizures of five major illegal drugs – cannabis, cocaine, crystal meth, heroin and ketamine – by police and customs rose by 27 per cent to 4.7 tonnes between January and May this year, up from 3.7 tonnes over the same period last year.
Authorities confiscated 2.3 tonnes of cannabis in the first five months of the year, an increase of 246 per cent from 658kg found in the same period in 2023.
Seizures of ketamine also rose by 65 per cent to 642kg between January and May this year from 388kg discovered during the period last year.
