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Hong Kong police make HK$17 million heroin and cocaine bust and arrest man who posed as a tourist after ‘guerilla-style’ drugs factory raided

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Hong Kong police make HK$17 million heroin and cocaine bust and arrest man who posed as a tourist after ‘guerilla-style’ drugs factory raided

Hong Kong police have netted a HK$17 million (US$2.2 million) heroin and cocaine haul after they raided a rented flat, arresting a Taiwanese man who had posed as a tourist to enter the city.

Tsang Hin-chiu, a senior inspector in the operations division of the police’s narcotics bureau, said on Saturday the bust had revealed a new tactic used by overseas syndicates, where members would come to the city as visitors and rent private housing to manufacture and store drugs.

“In this case, we have seen overseas syndicate members coming to Hong Kong to conduct their activities, using guerilla-style tactics to evade police efforts,” Tsang said.

He was speaking after a police team raided the alleged drug manufacturing and storage site in a flat in Shap Pat Heung, Yuen Long on Friday.

Police say drugs raid exposed new technique used by overseas syndicates to try and avoid capture. Photo: Warton Li

Around 14kg of heroin, 1.7kg of crack cocaine pellets and six red wine bottles containing liquid cocaine, as well as drug production and packaging tools, were said to have been discovered inside the flat.

Tsang said the force suspected the syndicate had used cooking ingredients and equipment, such as baking soda and pots, to produce crack cocaine from the liquid form of the drug.

He added packaging materials found at the scene suggested that the syndicate could have used the site to divide and pack drugs before they were sold.

Arrest at Hong Kong airport after cocaine worth HK$12 million found in wheelchair

“Since our arrestee is from Taiwan and could only stay in the city for a month on a tourist visa, I believe that the drug syndicate has exploited his non-local identity to manufacture and sell drugs in a guerilla-like manner to make things difficult for law enforcement,” Tsang said.

A 29-year-old man is expected to appear in court on Monday charged in connection with the alleged drugs find.

Figures show the seizure of five major illegal drugs in the city – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – surged by two-thirds to 3,712kg in the first five months of this year from 2,227kg in the same period in 2022.

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