Engine scam fails to fly in coke haul

Customs has scooped 217 kilograms of cocaine from Ecuador in the first-ever drug trafficking case to make use of an aircraft engine.

With an estimated market value of HK$246 million, the case is the largest seaborne cocaine trafficking case since 2012.

The shipment containing the engine aroused suspicions after remaining uncollected for two months at Kwai Chung, with aircraft engines also rarely being imported from Ecuador.

X-ray scans of the engine showed a complicated structure that was different from a typical jet engine.

Government Flying Services staff helped dismantle the engine on May 20.

"The engine was old, but it had a complex and sturdy composition," said Benson Lee Tak-shun, head of Ports and Maritime Command.

Raymond Ho Wai-ming, a GFS manager, said the engine was rusty and unusable, but the combustion chamber's exterior had been sprayed to make it look new.

Officers drilled a hole into the chamber's outer shell, before using a borescope to check its internal structure.

"It was made of unusually thick iron and many common engine components were lost, thus we suspected it was used for other purposes," Ho said.

The engine was sent to GFS headquarters, where 217 slabs of cocaine were found in eight tailor-made metal containers inside a secret compartment.

Customs superintendent Barry Chu Yin-min said officers were looking for a male director and a female employee of a trading company that was the cargo's consignee.

The department lost contact with the trading company - set up last April through a local secretariat firm - after inspecting the jet engine last month.

"We believe the case is associated with a multi-national drug trafficking organization, judging from its way of handling and the amount of drugs," Chu said.

Chu said the haul was meticulously planned as the slabs of cocaine were wrapped in black plastic material, which was water-resistant, to avoid X-ray scans.

"The consignee even requested the courier company return the shipment to Ecuador after finding out about the inspections by our officers," Chu said.

Hong Kong's largest seaborne cocaine case in 2012 also included a shipment from Ecuador - with customs officers seizing a record 649 kilograms of the drug worth HK$760 million.