The police found that in recent years, there were drug syndicates smuggling cannabis into Hong Kong from overseas areas where cannabis was legalized, and split a large amount of drugs into wholesale and retail, supplying local bars and partyrooms.
After in-depth investigation, the police arrested two men aged 41 and 28 in Tuen Mun and San Po Kong respectively on September 16, and seized about 904.5 kilograms of cannabis flowers and one kilogram of methamphetamine from them and the industrial building they controlled. , with a market value of about 194 million yuan.
The number of cannabis flowers seized by police this time is the highest on record in Hong Kong.
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Superintendent Lau Kai Peng of the Action Team of the Police Drug Investigation Division briefed on the case and pointed out that in recent years, he noticed that there were drug trafficking syndicates looking for sources of goods from overseas areas where marijuana was legalized, and cooperating with local drug dealers to arrange a huge amount of marijuana to be smuggled into Hong Kong.
After short-term storage, it is supplied to local entertainment venues such as bars and party rooms through wholesale and retail.
The Police are striving to prevent the flow of marijuana into Hong Kong and to crack down on triads who use drugs to make money.
After a series of operations and deployments, the Narcotics Investigation Bureau smashed three cannabis storage warehouses believed to be controlled by triads in industrial buildings in San Po Kong and Tuen Mun last Friday (September 16), arrested two local men, and seized 904.5 One kilogram of cannabis flower and one kilogram of methamphetamine, with a market value of about 194 million yuan.
The number of cannabis flowers seized this time is the highest in Hong Kong's history. The number of cannabis flowers seized in this operation alone has exceeded the total number of cannabis flowers seized by all law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong from January to July this year.
Liu said that in this operation, it was found that the drug trafficking group first collected drugs from North America in the form of packaging of building materials, and then smuggled them into China and then carefully divided the labor and used the logistics industry to store the drugs in different industrial buildings. The police have encountered certain difficulties and challenges in law enforcement, but stressed that the police force is determined and capable of combating any drug-trafficking activities.
Police inspect largest amount of marijuana flower on record
Chief Inspector Zhan Yiuguang of the Narcotics Investigation Division told the details of the operation, saying that after conducting an in-depth investigation through intelligence analysis, the detectives believed that the drug gang used three industrial building units in Tuen Mun and San Po Kong as storage warehouses.
On the afternoon of September 16 last Friday, an agent of the Drug Investigation Bureau found a suspicious man leaving an industrial building unit on Kin Tai Street, Tuen Mun.
Detectives immediately stepped forward to intercept the investigation, and found seven bags of marijuana flowers weighing 3.5 kilograms in a shopping bag held by the man.
The man is believed to be managing both a 300-square-foot unit in the Kin Tai Street Industrial Building and another drug storage warehouse of an 800-square-foot unit in the Tsing Yeung Street Industrial Building.
Detectives seized 960 packets of marijuana flowers weighing 480 kilograms and 3 packets of methamphetamine weighing 1 kilogram in the two industrial building units. The 41-year-old man surnamed Chen was arrested for drug trafficking.
Later, officers of the Narcotics Bureau conducted an ambush and spy on Pat Tat Street, San Po Kong, and found another suspicious man leaving a sub-tenant of an industrial building.
Detectives stepped forward to intercept and found a bag of marijuana flowers weighing 566 grams in an environmentally friendly bag he was holding.
Detectives further seized 704 packets of marijuana flowers weighing 420.4 kilograms in the sub-let of about 400 square feet, and arrested the 28-year-old man surnamed Guo on drug trafficking charges.
A total of 904.5 kilograms of marijuana flowers and 1 kilogram of methamphetamine were seized in the entire operation. The operation is still ongoing, and more arrests cannot be ruled out.
The two arrested men reported being unemployed and are being detained by the police for investigation. The police will temporarily charge the two men with drug trafficking and appear at the Tuen Mun and Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts on Monday.
Senior Inspector Tan Weinuo said that according to police arrest statistics, from January to July this year, a total of 264 youths under the age of 21 were arrested for drug offences, and 50% of them were arrested for cannabis.
In fact, since 2020, more than 40% of youth under the age of 21 who have been arrested by police for drug offences have been arrested for marijuana-related drug offences each year.
In addition, according to statistics from the Narcotics Division, marijuana remains the most commonly abused drug among reported youth under the age of 21.
In the first half of 2022, nearly 60% of reported youths under the age of 21 reported marijuana abuse.
The police are concerned that the number of teens smoking marijuana is on the rise, which may be due to misunderstandings about marijuana by some young people.
One of the reasons may be that young people know that some overseas countries have legalized the so-called recreational marijuana in recent years, so they think that the harm caused by marijuana is not great, and it has little effect on the body.
In order to raise the awareness of young people and the public about poisoning, the police will launch an anti-drug publicity and education work called "Anti-drug Season" from this month to November. A new series of anti-drug publicity animations and short films will be launched, starting from September 25th to October 9th. There will also be anti-drug propaganda vehicles to bring anti-drug information to the community and a large-scale community anti-drug activity will be held in November.
During the anti-drug season, we will also go to different universities and middle schools to promote anti-drug messages.
The police once again reminded the public, especially young people, that "marijuana is a drug," smoking or possessing any drug is a crime, with a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of 1 million yuan.
Drug trafficking is an even more serious crime, with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $5 million fine.
If the public has any information about drugs and wants to report it to the police, they can call the 24-hour drug reporting hotline at 2527 1234.
