SCMP
- Two suspects, 47-year-old Dominican man and 44-year-old Colombian man, both holding Spanish passports, linked to transnational smuggling syndicate, police say
- Police say narcotics stash is ‘largest haul of suspected cocaine confiscated by force this year so far
Hong Kong police have arrested two tourists from Spain after discovering HK$120 million (US$15.3 million) worth of suspected cocaine in their hotel room, making the largest seizure of the drug by the force so far this year.
The 47-year-old Dominican man and a 44-year-old Colombian man, both holding Spanish passports, were arrested on Friday after police found 132kg (291lbs) of the suspected drug in their hotel room in Yau Ma Tei, the force on Sunday said.
Police added the narcotics were divided into 109 bricks and officers also found two bags containing broken-up drug parcels in the tourists’ suitcases.
Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun of the force’s narcotics bureau said the suspects were believed to be working for a transnational syndicate that recruited foreigners to smuggle drugs and briefly stay in the city.
“This is the largest haul of suspected cocaine confiscated by the force this year so far,” he said. “We notice that the syndicate are using guerilla tactics, which means they carefully chose tourists to traffic the drugs in suitcases in order to conceal their true identity as narcotraffickers.”
Tam said both suspects had flown to Hong Kong from Spain late last month, with the journey including a layover in London.
The drugs had been stored in the hotel room since early this month, he said, adding that officers were investigating how much had already been sold.
The two suspects were in police custody and due to appear at Kowloon City Court on Monday morning.
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