Over the weekend, the Hong Kong Police Force made one of its biggest heroin seizures in recent years after finding the dangerous drugs in a rather unexpected place: boxes of medicated ointment.
At a press conference yesterday, police said Narcotics Bureau officers discovered 19.4 kilograms of suspected heroin in a “suspicious vehicle” at On Yam Estate, Kwai Chung, on Sunday morning. The driver, a 38-year-old Hong Kong man with a triad background, was arrested for drug trafficking, Oriental Daily reports.
Police said 700 grams of heroin was found inside the suspect’s bag, while a further 18.7 kilograms was stashed inside cartons of Tiger Balm, a.k.a. that somehow minty-yet-hot ointment that people in Asia use to cure all ills. The haul is believed to have a street value of more than HKD14 million.
Senior inspector Lam Pak-kiu said it was believed that the suspect was part of a global drug syndicate which intended to sell the drugs in Hong Kong. Lam told RTHK that the force was still investigating the source of the drugs.
Tiger Balm! You can use it for anything: sore muscles, headaches, drug trafficking.
Reader Interactions