Drug kingpin arrested in Hong Kong
The alleged kingpin of an international drug syndicate suspected of operating one of the world’s biggest drug-manufacturing laboratories has been arrested, customs officials said today.
The 29-year-old man – believed to be involved in a drug ring recently smashed in Cebu, the Philippines – was arrested on Wednesday night as he tried to flee Hong Kong to neighbouring Macau.
Customs Drug Investigation Bureau chief, Ben Leung, said the Filipino-Chinese man was the alleged mastermind of the syndicate and had been under surveillance since he arrived in Hong Kong last week.
Leung said he believed the syndicate had one of the three largest drug-manufacturing plants ever uncovered.
The arrest came after Philippines authorities raided the drug lab in Cebu and seized €18.5m worth of the party drug “ice” and drug-making chemicals, officials said. They also arrested 11 men in the operation.
Hong Kong customs said a joint investigation of the syndicate with officials from the United States, Macau and the Philippines led to yesterday’s arrest.
Officials said the man was carrying small quantities of ice, ketamine and cocaine when they arrested him.
They also seized US and Hong Kong banknotes worth a total of €84,500 and some bankbooks with deposits of €1.1m from the man.
