Hong Kong customs uncovers HK$140 million drugs stash inside shipment from North America, including largest fentanyl haul in over 3 years
- Customs officers find more than 480kg of suspected narcotics, including 3kg of fentanyl, concealed in shipment of air compressors
- ‘Over the past three years, we have only had one case of small amounts of fentanyl being smuggled into the city via air postage,’ department says
Hong Kong customs officers have seized about HK$140 million (US$17.9 million) worth of suspected drugs, including the largest haul of suspected fentanyl in at least three years, smuggled inside machine parts shipped from North America.
The Customs and Excise Department on Sunday said officers found more than 480kg (1,058lbs) of illegal drugs concealed in 15 air compressors shipped in freight containers.
“We selected a batch of goods declared as air compressors, and discovered different drugs sealed inside, including cannabis buds, methamphetamine, Ecstasy and fentanyl,” said Jacky Tsang Kin-bon, divisional commander in customs’ drug investigation bureau.
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Alex Wong Kei-cheung, a divisional commander in the ports and maritime command, said officers last Wednesday discovered the air compressors had been tampered with and the damage concealed using labels, prompting them to cut open the components.
The haul had an estimated value of HK$140 million and comprised 311kg of cannabis buds, 88kg of methamphetamine, 82kg of Ecstasy and 3kg of fentanyl.
The department restored the containers after the search and allowed the shipment to continue on its way, leading to the arrest of a 23-year-old jobless man in Tuen Mun last Wednesday.
The suspect was allegedly caught retrieving 23kg of cannabis buds from one of the air compressors, while the rest of the haul was discovered at a storage facility in Yuen Long, the department said.
Divisional commander Tsang said authorities had not ruled out further arrests in connection with the case.
The discovery of such a large quantity of fentanyl in Hong Kong was rare, he added.
The drug is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times stronger than morphine as a pain reliever.
“Over the past three years, we have only had one case of small amounts of fentanyl being smuggled into the city via air postage,” Tsang said. “We will investigate whether the suspected fentanyl is supplied to the local market.”
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The division commander also noted customs had seized more than 2,000kg of cannabis products in the first 10 months of this year, a fourfold increase from the same period in 2022.
The syndicate linked to the haul relied on unconventional smuggling methods to deliver drugs, such as packaging them as “personalised orders” containing air compressors marked for different buyers, Tsang said.
“We believe this is so that the syndicate can arrange with the logistics company for accurate and convenient delivery to their recipients,” he added.
