They Thought It Was White Wine, But It Was Liquid Cocaine: Hong Kong's $62 Million Drug Seizure

By Lucía Tedesco via El Planteo

In an unusual twist of drug trafficking, two men from Hong Kong have been apprehended. A shipment from Brazil, containing 706 bottles of red and white wine, as well as juice, was taken for inspection. It was then that customs officials made a startling discovery: it wasn't wine, but liquid cocaine instead.

The haul of drugs seized was estimated to be worth around $62.7 million. Jacky Tsang Kin-bon, superintendent of the Customs and Excise Department, was quoted by High Times as saying, "A total of 444 kilograms of suspected liquid cocaine was discovered in the 37 boxes... The estimated street value of the haul is about HK $490 million."

How Was The Liquid Cocaine Discovered?

The clue that raised suspicions was the observation that some bottles (those of white wine) appeared to have been opened and then resealed. Subsequent tests confirmed that these bottles indeed contained liquid cocaine.

This incident marks the largest seizure of liquid cocaine by weight in the past 20 years. Tsang Kin-bon noted, "We believe the drug trafficking syndicate tried to take advantage of the busy logistics services before the Christmas and New Year holidays to smuggle the narcotic into the city and evade detection."

With the investigation ongoing, further arrests have not been ruled out.

It's evident that the methods of drug traffickers are becoming increasingly sophisticated; they have previously attempted to disguise cocaine in products ranging from noodles and coal to almond syrup and bananas. Consequently, the role of narcotics agents is becoming ever more critical, necessitating heightened vigilance and precision.

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Photo by Anna Kumpan on Unsplash

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