Hong Kong customs officers announced on July 6, 2012, that they have made the region's biggest ever cocaine bust, seizing 649 kilograms (1,430 pounds) of the drug, worth $98 million. Customs officials said the drugs were in a shipping container that arrived from Ecuador. John Lee, head of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau, said he believed most of the shipment was destined for Southeast Asia or mainland China. In this photo, the cubes of cocaine are on display at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Customs officers discovered the drugs after they followed the shipment when it was driven from the port to a collection point in Hong Kong's rural New Territories, where it was picked up by two men that authorities believe are members of a local drug syndicate. When they inspected the shipment, officers found 541 bricks of cocaine, each weighing about 1.2 kilograms, hidden in a shipment of laurel wood. The driver and the two men were arrested. In this photo, customs officers display the cubes of cocaine at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on July 6, 2012.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
In this photo, cubes of cocaine are displayed at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong on July 6, 2012.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Head of Customs Drug Investigation Bureau John Lee said Hong Kong's customs department has been working with the DEA and South American law enforcement agencies this year to combat drug trafficking. The seizure tops a haul last year of 560 kilograms of cocaine worth about $77 million found in a suburban warehouse. Five Mexicans and a Colombian were among the eight people arrested in that case.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Head of Customs Drug Investigation Bureau John Lee displays the cubes of cocaine at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on July 6, 2012.
Credit: Kin Cheung
Customs officials said the drugs were in a shipping container that arrived from Ecuador. The container was one of a batch that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had flagged for further inspection.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Customs officers display the cubes of cocaine at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on July 6, 2012.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Customs officers display the cubes of cocaine at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on July 6, 2012.
Credit: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Hong Kong customs officers display the cubes of cocaine at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department on July 6, 2012.
