Hong Kong customs officials found cocaine worth US $31.7 million (equivalent to HK $246 million), hidden in an airplane engine shipped from Ecuador.
It is the largest drug seizure in Hong Kong so far this year.
The engine was inside a shipping container that arrived from Ecuador in March, but the drug was discovered last week after it was opened for inspection at Hong Kong International Airport.
Officers found 217 kg of cocaine hidden inside, according to a publication by Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
Customs officials were suspicious because jet engines are not commonly shipped to Hong Kong from South America, and the recipient did not appear to pick up the cargo.
An x-ray of the engine revealed an unusual shape and last Tuesday, Government Flight Service (GFS) personnel were called to inspect the machine at the Kwai Chung cargo test complex.
“It is an old and useless engine,” said Benson Lee Tak-shun, chief of Ports and Maritime Command.
Raymond Ho Wai-ming, a GFS manager, said the engine was rusty, but that the outer shell of the combustion chamber had been spray painted to make it look new.
Superintendent Barry Chu Yin-min of the Customs Drug Investigation Office said that after opening the machine, a secret compartment was found inside the combustion chamber.
Inside were eight containers with 217 packages of cocaine. Each weighs 1 kg.
Chu said the consignee in Hong Kong was a trading company created in April last year through a local secretariat firm.
Customs officials were still looking for its director and an employee regarding the case.
Source: Eluniverso
