3 arrested after 131kg of ketamine disguised as sugar cubes found in air cargo

Hong Kong customs intercepts cargo from Germany with help from mainland authorities, finding pails containing drugs worth about HK$51 million

Hong Kong customs officers have arrested three men in connection with the seizure of 131kg (289lbs) of suspected ketamine worth about HK$51 million (US$6.5 million), disguised as sugar cubes and found in air cargo transported to the city.

Chiu Kai-wing, a senior investigator with the Customs and Excise Department’s drug investigation bureau, said on Saturday that officers had intercepted the air cargo consignment from Germany declared as containing sugar cubes on Tuesday, after exchanging intelligence with mainland Chinese authorities.

“The syndicate exploited convenient logistics in the city, using a complicated and more expensive route to traffic drugs, in a bid to hide the goods’ origins and evade detection,” Chiu said.

Customs officers discovered the 131kg of suspected ketamine in the form of white crystals inside 17 of 117 plastic pails declared as containing sugar cubes. The suspected illegal drugs had an estimated value of about HK$51.4 million.

Chiu said that the use of air transport, which is more expensive than road or sea freight, for low-cost goods such as sugar had aroused suspicions.

“The cargo had also gone through multiple transfers to lower transport costs and mask the goods’ origins, as well as to evade checks,” he said.

Tsui Kin-hei, an inspector with customs’ air cargo group, explained that officers detected the suspected ketamine inside three pallets of sealed pails after X-ray scans revealed anomalies.