Hong Kong customs officers have charged two men over separate cases of narcotics smuggling involving about HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) worth of crystal meth and cocaine.
Inspector Kevin Cheuk Chu-fung of Hong Kong’s customs drug investigation bureau said on Thursday that one of the cases came to light on July 4 after an X-ray scan at the airport flagged a suspicious parcel from the US that was listed as containing chairs.
Officers discovered about 5kg of suspected crystal meth, commonly known as Ice, in the parcel, which was addressed to a co-working space on Hong Kong Island, he added.
An investigation showed that the same consignor was linked to five parcels listed as containing chairs and toys that had been sent to various co-working spaces in the city.
Customs on July 5 discovered five other suspicious parcels from the United States at the airport and several local warehouses, leading to the discovery of about 20kg of suspected crystal meth and 5kg of cocaine.
Officers estimated the total haul from the first case was worth about HK$17 million.
The department said officers arrested a 38-year-old jobless man in connection with the case on Wednesday after he allegedly attempted to recover a parcel containing narcotics from a co-working space.
The suspect was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at Eastern Court on Friday.
In the second case, customs officers at the airport discovered about 6kg of crystal meth with an estimated street value of about HK$3 million inside the luggage of a man travelling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The department said the suspect was a local man and believed to have been offered HK$80,000 to smuggle the narcotics into Hong Kong using a box of fish feed.
The man was charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and will appear at West Kowloon Court on Friday.
