$98 million of cocaine seized in Hong Kong's biggest ever coke bust

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

John Lee, Hong Kong drug investigation official, displays bricks of cocaine said to be part of a 1,430 lb. seizure of the drug, the largest ever in that city, Friday, July 6, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Kin Cheung

(CBS/AP) HONG KONG - About 1,430 pounds of cocaine worth about $98 million in US dollars was seized in Hong Kong, making it the city's biggest ever cocaine bust, Chinese customs officers said Friday.

Pictures: Record $98M cocaine bust in Hong Kong

Head of the city's Customs Drug Investigation Bureau John Lee said the drugs arrived in a shipping container from Ecuador to Hong Kong's port. Lee said he believed most of the shipment was destined for Southeast Asia or mainland China.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had to flag the container, which was one of a batch, to Hong Kong officials for further inspection. Customs officers discovered the drugs after following the shipment on Wednesday when it was driven from the port to a collection point in Hong Kong's rural New Territories. It was then picked up by two men, who authorities believed were members of a local drug syndicate.

When the officers inspected the shipment, they found 541 bricks of cocaine hidden in laurel wood. The two men and their driver were arrested.

Lee said Hong Kong's customs department was working with the U.S. DEA and South American law enforcement agencies this year to combat drug trafficking.