Hong Kong Customs detected a cocaine trafficking case on Wednesday with a record seizure of 649 kilograms and an estimated value of about 760 million HK dollars ( about 98 million U.S. dollars), according to the city's government news website Friday.
A container from Quayaquil, Ecuador, declared as containing " Laurel Wood", arrived in Hong Kong Wednesday at Kwai Chung Container Terminals. Later in the day, a container truck took the container and delivered it to a designated location for collection by two other men.
Upon examination, the Customs officers found inside the container 22 nylon bags containing a total of 541 slabs of cocaine, with each slab weighing about 1,200 grams, amounting to approximately 649 kilograms.
Three local men were arrested in the operation. The truck driver is on bail pending further investigation, while the other two men, claiming to be a waiter and a technician, will be charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at Fanling Magistrates' Courts Saturday.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, drug trafficking is a serious offence and the maximum penalty is up to life imprisonment and a fine of 5 million HK dollars.
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