Hong Kong customs seizes HK$18 million of suspected ketamine in baby car seats
Syndicate employed ‘ingenious’ methods to hide drugs in car seats shipped in two containers from Netherlands and Spain, officers say
Hong Kong customs has arrested three people after seizing HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) worth of suspected ketamine hidden inside baby car seats in two shipping containers from the Netherlands and Spain.
The Customs and Excise Department said on Thursday that its officers found 36.2kg (79.8lbs) of the substance while inspecting two seaborne consolidated containers in December, following an intelligence analysis and risk assessment.
Officers first seized about 15.6kg of suspected ketamine from five boxes of goods in the container from the Netherlands, declared to contain car head restraints and baby car seats, on December 16 last year.
Three days later, they found about 20.6kg of the suspected drug concealed inside 10 boxes of goods in another container from Spain, which was declared to contain baby car seats.
Senior Inspector Lau Tsz-yan of the customs’ containerised cargo examination unit said the syndicate had used the interior space of the infant car seats to conceal the items, and had sealed the cut opening at the bottom of the seats with black tape to avoid detection in both cases.
“Although the two shipments originated from different locations, the drug syndicate went to great lengths to employ ingenious concealment methods to evade customs detection,” she said.
“The officers had to spend a significant amount of time conducting a thorough inspection of the cargo.”