Hong Kong police arrest 2 tourists from Spain after finding 132 kg of cocaine at hotel room

Hong Kong police have arrested two tourists from Spain after uncovering HK$120 million (US$15.3 million) worth of cocaine at a hotel room, with the pair suspected of working with a transnational crime syndicate to smuggle the drugs into the city, Report informs referring to the South China Morning Post.

The pair, a 47-year-old Dominican man and a 44-year-old Colombian man, both holding Spanish passports, were arrested last Friday when police discovered 132kg (291lbs) of cocaine at their hotel room in Yau Ma Tei, the force said on Sunday.

Police added that the narcotics were divided into 109 bricks and officers also found two bags containing broken-up drug parcels in the tourists’ suitcases.

Superintendent Wilson Tam Wai-shun of the force’s narcotics bureau said the suspects were believed to be working for a transnational syndicate that recruited foreigners to smuggle drugs and briefly stay in the city.

“This is the largest haul of suspected cocaine confiscated by the force this year so far,” he said. “We notice that the syndicate are using guerilla tactics, which means they carefully chose tourists to traffic the drugs in suitcases in order to conceal their true identity as narcotraffickers.”

Tam said both suspects had flown to Hong Kong from Spain late last month, with the journey including a layover in London.

The drugs had been stored in the hotel room since early February, he said, adding that officers were investigating how much of the cocaine had already been sold.