Man to appear in court on meth smuggling charge
Officers found the suspected drugs inside a vehicle gearbox. Photo: Courtesy of Hong Kong Customs
A 28-year-old man will appear in court on Wednesday on suspicion of trafficking 3.9 kilos of methamphetamine with a street value of HK$2.1 million.
The man was charged after Customs at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point on Sunday intercepted a spare parts shipment from South Africa. Officers found the suspected drugs inside a vehicle gearbox.
The following day, officers mounted a controlled delivery operation in Kam Tin and arrested the man.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
3 hours ago
- HKFP
361 arrested for allegedly staging traffic accidents to claim Hong Kong gov't aid
Hong Kong police have arrested a total of 361 people suspected of staging road accidents to obtain government aid for traffic accident victims. As of the end of June, a total of 353 people were arrested on suspicion of staging road accidents and using forged medical certificates to claim the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) from the Social Welfare Department (SWD), police said during a press conference on Thursday. Another eight people – seven men and one woman, aged 22 to 60 – were arrested over the past week, bringing the total number of arrests to 361. The eight suspects were reportedly warehouse workers, delivery persons or unemployed. 'Through our investigation, we found those cases follow self-written, self-directed and self-performed 'scripts.' Most drivers and 'victims' reported that they were injured in traffic accidents in the early morning because they tried to avoid dogs on the road or because the road was slippery,' Lam Pak-kiu, the chief inspector of Kowloon West District Crime Unit, told journalists in Cantonese. 'They then tried to claim grants under TAVA with false medical certificates.' Police are investigating whether those arrested were involved in organised crime, Lam added. The SWD has been making police reports on suspected TAVA fraud cases since March last year, the chief inspector also said at the press conference. Police previously said that a total of 275 people were arrested between October 3 and November 1 over allegedly staging traffic accidents to fraudulently claim HK$14 million in TAVA. According to the SWD, TAVA provides different types of grants to road traffic accident victims or the dependants of the deceased victims. The amount of the compassionate grant ranges from HK$330 to HK$19,800, depending on the severity of injuries. Disability grants and death grants give higher amounts. In June, the government added new measures to combat false applications, including limiting the number of grant applications an applicant can submit to once every two years, the department said in a statement released on Thursday. 'It is a criminal offence to provide false information to obtain TAVA payments,' the SWD said. 'Offenders may be prosecuted under the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) and be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a maximum of 14 years.'
HKFP
10 hours ago
- HKFP
Hong Kong gov't recovered 9,000 public rental flats over 3 years amid crackdown on ‘rich tenants'
The Hong Kong government has recovered around 9,000 public rental flats over the past three years amid a crackdown on 'rich tenants' and an abuse of public resources. Winnie Ho, the housing chief, said on Facebook on Wednesday that the approximately 9,000 flats taken back from July 2022 to this June has saved the government around HK$9 billion, which would otherwise have been spent on building new public flats. The official said that some retirees from the disciplinary forces had joined the government's task force set up to investigate suspected abuse cases. The retirees were recruited to assist with 'more serious and concealed suspected cases,' and to provide frontline staff with investigative skills training, Ho said in the Chinese-language Facebook post. Last February, Ho told state-back newspaper Ta Kung Pao that the Housing Department had hired some disciplinary forces retirees to help form a plan to crack down on public housing abuse, and to monitor online if any tenants are illegally subletting their units. The government has been stepping up efforts to identify 'rich tenants' living in public rental housing since early 2024, citing a limited supply of public housing units. Apart from the establishment of a special task force, the authorities have also enhanced scrutiny of tenants' finances, including the value of their vehicles and assets in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese and abroad. After taking office in July 2022, Chief Executive John Lee said addressing Hong Kong's housing issues topped his administration's agenda. He vowed to reduce the average waiting time for public rental housing – which was then 5.6 years then – to 4.5 within four years. As of this March, the average wait time was 5.3 years. Meanwhile, the government has also encouraged the public to report any suspected cases of suspected public housing abuse. Earlier in January, the Housing Authority rolled out the 'Report Public Housing Abuse Award.' Anyone who provides 'genuine and concrete information' that leads to the Housing Department's successful identification of abuse cases will be rewarded with HK$3,000 and a certificate of appreciation.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Man arrested in Hong Kong over smoking products, 30kg of drugs found in luggage
Hong Kong customs officers have arrested a man who flew in from the Netherlands after 30kg (66lbs) of suspected ketamine and smoking products worth about HK$12 million (US$152,870) were found in his luggage. The 37-year-old man arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday on a flight from Amsterdam. During clearance, officers from the Customs and Excise Department discovered what they believed were 30kg of ketamine, nine boxes of nicotine pouches containing Part I poison nicotine, and four alternative smoking products in his two checked bags. The man was immediately arrested and placed under investigation. Customs on Thursday urged the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary reward. Do not accept an offer or task to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong, and refrain from carrying unknown items for other people, authorities said.
