Trio in Hong Kong jailed for nearly 21 years over manufacture of more than HK$36 million in cocaine
- Police subdue three suspects in remote village and seize range of drugmaking equipment in house
- Courier also intercepted and sentenced to more than 14 years behind bars
A Hong Kong judge has jailed three men for nearly 21 years over the manufacture of more than HK$36 million (US$4.6 million) worth of cocaine in a remote village house near the border with mainland China.
Their courier was also jailed for 14 years and four months after he was found carrying the key to a car containing another HK$1.05 million worth of cocaine hydrochloride, a digital weighing scale and some plastic bags.
The High Court heard police uncovered what Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang described as a large-scale manufacturing site in a two-storey unnamed house in Tong To Ping Tsuen on Sha Tau Kok Road on January 21, 2019.
Officers found Lim Ching-fung, 20, and Jose Luis Noriega Martinez, 37, carrying big water buckets, with Ip Wai-hoi, 25, holding a gas lance. The trio immediately dropped the items and fled, but were later subdued.
Inside the house, investigators found various cocaine-manufacturing apparatus, including soda powder, cling wrap, active charcoal, lime and heating pipes. They also seized 71 buckets of various chemicals.
A total of nearly 19kg of cocaine and another 5.11kg of cocaine hydrochloride were uncovered in the operation, according to senior public prosecutor Mickey Fung Mei-ki.
Their retail value totalled more than HK$36 million, Fung said.