Police arrest 2 men after seizure of 13 liters of ‘date rape’ drug near LKF

Screengrab via Apple Daily video.
Screengrab via Apple Daily video.

Two men have been detained after authorities seized some 13 litres of a common date rape drug, likely intended for distribution at the city’s popular night spots including Lan Kwai Fong.

According to several reports, the pair, a 30-year-old from Hong Kong and a 53-year-old Australian national, were arrested yesterday at a flat in Peel Street, Central — an address nearby the busy LKF entertainment district.

Inside the flat, officers undercovered 3kg of methamphetamine, and amounts of ecstasy, cocaine, and cannabis, reported HK01.

They also found 3 litres of gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL), often used as a date rape drug, the outlet reported.

According to Ming Pao, Customs Officers discovered the flat — referred to as a drug packaging and distribution centre — after intercepting 10 liters of GBL in a package at the airport on Saturday.

Sent from Lithuania, the parcel was addressed to the apartment on 66 Peel Street where officers, posing as couriers, performed a controlled delivery, on Monday — before arresting the pair.

According to the SCMP, the total street value of the drugs seized HK$1.9 million (US$242,000).

Officers also confiscated some HK$300,000 (US$38,000) in cash and a money counter from the flat, which had been leased for more than six months, according to the newspaper.




The seizure was the second time within a month that GBL shipped from Lithuania had been intercepted by Hong Kong’s customs authorities.

According to the SCMP, two men were previously arrested in late April, after officers discovered a parcel from the Baltic nation at the Cheung Sha Wan office of an express courier company, which contained some 25 litres of GBL solvent.

Two men connected to that package were arrested at an industrial flat in Kowloon Bay, where another liter of GBL and five grams of suspected crystal meth, were also found.

Police are investigating whether the cases are linked, the SCMP reported.

According to Apple Daily,  officers said the GLB — classified by Hong Kong authorities as a dangerous drug in 2012 — was likely intended for distribution at popular night spots, including LKF.

Soluble in water and extremely potent , it is converted within the body to the better-known gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) — another common ‘date rape’ chemical .

Its effects are identical, with only small amounts leading to intoxication, sleepiness and blackouts and overdoses leading to potentially fatal comas.



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