Customs detects largest-ever liquid cocaine case with market value reaching HK$490m

Customs announced Monday that they had busted the largest amount of liquid cocaine on record, which was hidden in wine bottles and worth about HK$490 million.

During an operation on December 19, officers inspected a 20-foot seaborne container arriving from Brazil - declared to be carrying wine and grape juice - at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound.

Officers said no details about the batch numbers and production date were printed on the transparent plastic bags that claimed to be white wine.

They then conducted a drug test and found 148 packages of suspected liquid cocaine were hidden inside 37 out of 706 carton boxes of wine. The total weight was about 444 kilograms. 

Upon a follow-up investigation, officers conducted controlled delivery operations, arresting a 38-year-old man who claimed to be unemployed in Yuen Long and a 50-year-old man who claimed to be a transportation company owner in Kwai Chung on Saturday (Jan 13) and Sunday (Jan 14).

An investigation is ongoing, and the customs do not rule out the possibility of further arrests.