Drug dealers offering free travel and quick cash to lure young Hongkongers into trafficking cocaine, Ice and ketamine

Cocaine was found inside the shoes of a suspect who was arrested during an operation targeting drug trafficking by young people. Photo / Handout

Free international travel and quick cash is being used by drug dealers to lure young summer jobseekers into narcotics trafficking, leading Hong Kong law enforcers to issue an alert to teenagers.

Customs warned young people looking to earn money over the coming school holidays to be vigilant after the arrest of four residents, including two students, in an operation against youth drug trafficking between Hong Kong and Macau from May 27 to July 8.

The four suspects aged between 15 and 21 - three men and one woman - were picked up at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan and China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, before they left for the casino hub, in three drug trafficking cases.

Customs officers seized a total of 70 grams of the drugs in those cases with an estimated street value of HK$60,000 (NZ$11,600).

"The seized suspected dangerous drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine, were found concealed inside the underwear or shoes the arrested persons wore and were packed in small packages ready for distribution," the Customs and Excise Department said in a statement on Tuesday.

With the summer holidays just around the corner, a customs spokesman reminded members of the public, in particular younger people, that criminals might post recruitment advertisements on unknown websites and social media platforms to lure students and young people into carrying dangerous drugs or various controlled items.

"They are reminded to stay alert and not to carry unknown items for other people," the spokesman said.

He said customs officers would continue stringent law enforcement at every boundary control point.

A law enforcement source said drug dealers made offers of "quick cash" via online chat groups and they usually recruited their targets when they were added to chat groups by friends.

"They are offered free air tickets and accommodation in Asia and South America with rewards of up to tens of thousands of dollars to smuggle drugs into Hong Kong," he said.

In Hong Kong, trafficking in a dangerous drug carries a maximum penalty for a life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine (NZ$970,000).

According to official statistics, local authorities seized 604kg of cocaine in 2018, up 174.5 per cent, compared with 220kg in 2017. Seizure of methamphetamine, also known as Ice, also rose by 149 per cent to 359kg in 2018.

- South China Morning Post