HK$8 million haul of suspected cocaine found adrift off Hong Kong beach, 5 days after HK$19 million worth of drug found at different spot
- Officers sent to Lido Beach in Ting Kau on Tuesday after beachgoer spots suspicious container
- Eight slabs of suspected cocaine with a combined weight of 8kg and an estimated street value of HK$8 million found
A HK$8 million (US$1 million) haul of suspected cocaine was discovered floating off a Hong Kong beach on Tuesday, five days after 19 slabs of the drug worth HK$19 million washed up at a different spot.
Officers were dispatched to Lido Beach in the Ting Kau section of Tsuen Wan at around 9.52am after a beachgoer reported a suspicious container in the water.
A police spokesman said eight packages were found inside the container, which was about 10 metres (33 feet) offshore.
The spokesman said the packages contained eight slabs of what appeared to be an illegal drug with a combined weight of 8kg and an estimated street value of HK$8 million. The spokesman revealed the seized drugs were suspected to be cocaine.
He said officers searched the shoreline in the area, but nothing else was found.
A police source said each package had a 1kg slab of suspected cocaine, which was sealed in more than 10 black vacuum waterproof bags. He said anti-narcotics officers were investigating why the haul washed up on the beach. So far, no arrests have been made.
Packages of cocaine worth HK$19 million were found near the shore and a shark prevention net at Chung Hom Kok Beach in Stanley in Southern district last Thursday.
Police cordoned off the beach and called in bomb experts as the parcels had labels that read “TNT”, which could stand for the explosive chemical compound trinitrotoluene.
But the force said an examination by explosive ordnance disposal bureau personnel revealed the packages carried 19 slabs of what appeared to be cocaine.
Provisional figures show seizures of the five major illegal drugs – cocaine, cannabis, methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – rose by 68 per cent to 13.29 tonnes last year from 7.9 tonnes in 2022.
Hong Kong police seize HK$19 million in cocaine that washed up on beach
The amount of cocaine seized by police and customs in 2023 increased by 55.8 per cent to 3.53 tonnes from the 2.27 tonnes kept off the streets the year before.
Customs officers seized a record HK$490 million worth of liquid cocaine disguised as white wine that arrived last December in an ocean container from Brazil.
The haul was hidden in a shipment of 706 boxes of red and white wine, as well as juice, that arrived in the city on December 19.
Two city men were arrested in connection with the incident.
Signs of resealing were found on 37 of the 706 wine boxes.
Each of the 37 were supposed to contain four three-litre white wine bags, but samples tested positive for cocaine.
