Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a 64-year-old businessman who arrived at the city’s airport from the Netherlands in connection with a HK$1.6 million (US$205,300) haul of ketamine hidden in bottles of protein supplement.
A source said on Wednesday that the man was stopped two days earlier for inspection after he flew to the city from Amsterdam, with a stop-off in Helsinki, Finland.
The insider said five plastic bottles said to contain creatine and whey protein were found in the man’s check-in luggage.
Senior Inspector Kong Kin-kit of the customs’ drug investigation bureau said the man’s check-in luggage was flagged as suspicious during an X-ray test as officers found signs that the bottles had been tampered with.
“The origin of the health products did not match the traveller’s country of departure, which aroused our suspicion,” he added.
Kong said officers opened the bottles and found 3.3kg (7.3lbs) of suspected ketamine with an estimated street value of HK$1.6 million.
The source said no protein supplements were found, but a sample tested positive for ketamine.
The man, believed to be from Europe, was detained on suspicion of trafficking in a dangerous drug – an offence punishable by up to life in prison and a HK$5 million fine.
“The drug trafficking syndicate behind this case used the health product as a disguise to conceal the illegal drug in an attempt to evade customs inspection,” Kong said.
He added that customs would continue to use a risk assessment approach and use hi-tech equipment to combat drug trafficking tactics.
The suspect was still being held for questioning on Wednesday morning.
Customs officers also confiscated HK$1.2 million worth of suspected cannabis buds in Hung Hom and Jordan on Tuesday.
They first intercepted a 41-year-old man in Hung Hom on Tuesday evening and found 1kg of what appeared to be cannabis buds inside a bag he was carrying.
Customs officers seized another 3.5kg of suspected cannabis buds in a later raid on a subdivided flat in Jordan rented by the man.
The man was charged with two counts of trafficking in a dangerous drug.
He is expected to appear at Kowloon City Court on Thursday.
Additional reporting by Harvey Kong
