Customs and Excise Department officers arrested three people after a courier parcel from Germany, declared to contain ceramics, was found to contain about 5.7 kilograms of suspected ketamine. The suspected drugs and cigarettes seized in the operation had an estimated combined street value of about HK$2.2 million.
The parcel was intercepted on 22 September. Officers then carried out a controlled delivery operation on the afternoon of 23 September outside a village-house unit in Sheung Shui, where they arrested a 55-year-old man as he collected it.
Officers later stopped a nearby private car and found 27,600 suspected illicit cigarettes. They arrested a 21-year-old woman, identified as the parcel's final recipient, and another woman aged 22. The 55-year-old man and the 21-year-old woman were reported to be father and daughter.
The man was charged with trafficking in a dangerous drug. The 21-year-old woman was charged with the same offence and with an offence concerning goods covered by the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance. The 22-year-old woman was released on bail pending investigation.
Customs said it would continue investigating the source and distribution of the suspected illicit cigarettes. The case was scheduled to be heard at Fanling Magistrates' Courts on 25 September.