Hong Kong Seizes $2.9 Million in Marijuana

Hong Kong customs officers seized a record 706 pounds of marijuana worth about $2.9 million coming from the Philippines on Thursday and Friday.

A Customs Service statement said the containers, wooden tea chests that arrived by sea, were marked personal effects but officials grew suspicious when they found that the address stencilled on the chests was false.

Investigators believe the drug was shipped by a Hong Kong syndicate and was intended for the local market.

“There is growing demand for cannabis in Hong Kong, and the Philippines is a major supplier,” customs spokesman David Tong told reporters.

On Thursday, customs officers seized 44 pounds of cannibis resin from a freighter. Thirty Chinese crew members of the ship, which arrived from the Middle East, Karachi, Bangkok and north China, were detained for questioning, the statement said.