Sharp Rise In Drugs Sent Through Air Cargo

With passenger air traffic severely disrupted and quarantine measures in place amid this coronavirus outbreak, Hong Kong authorities said drug-trafficking syndicates have turned to air cargo to try to bring the contraband items here.

Customs officers on Wednesday reported a sharp increase in drugs sent through air cargo in the first six months of the year.

Officers uncovered a total of 409 dangerous drug cases at the airport, 90 percent of them via air cargo.

In all, they seized 1.6 tonnes of suspected drugs with a market value of HK$660 million – both figures more than doubled from the same period last year.

The drugs that were seized included cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine.

"We observe that drug-trafficking syndicates attempted to traffick large quantities of dangerous drugs into Hong Kong in small batches repeatedly, as delivery times of international postal services might be delayed by the epidemic," said Eddie Lee, Group Head (Airport Investigation) of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau.

"So, the drug syndicate therefore tried to use express parcels to traffick dangerous drugs into Hong Kong."

Officers say the drugs were concealed in various ways, such as in coffee bean bags, seasoning powder of instant noodles, tins of baby formula, art pieces and machinery.