CUSTOMS OFFICERS SAID THEY SMASHED AN INTERNATIONAL COCAINE SMUGGLING SYNDICATE WEDNESDAY AFTER THEY ARRESTED A PERUVIAN NATIONAL IN HONG KONG AND THEIR THAI COUNTERPARTS DETAINED SIX OTHER PERUVIANS IN BANGKOK, DPA REPORTED. OFFICERS SAID DRUGS, WORTH ABOUT 654,000 US DOLLARS, WERE SEIZED WITH 1 KG RECOVERED IN HONG KONG AND 6 KG IN THAILAND. HONG KONG OFFICERS SAID IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST SEIZURES OF COCAINE IN RECENT YEARS. CUSTOMS OFFICERS SAID A 33-YEAR-OLD PERUVIAN WAS ARRESTED AT HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AFTER HE ARRIVED FROM SOUTH AMERICA VIA JOHANNESBURG AND KUALA LUMPUR. IT WAS FOUND HE HAD CONCEALED 1KG OF DRUGS INTERNALLY. HE WILL APPEAR IN COURT THURSDAY CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING IN A DANGEROUS DRUG. THE SIX OTHERS, WHO ARE BELIEVED TO BE MEMBERS OF THE SAME SYNDICATE, WERE HELD AFTER ARRIVING AT BANGKOK. OFFICERS ALSO FOUND THE DRUGS HIDDEN INTERNALLY. THE SEIZURE FOLLOW A JOINT OPERATION, CODENAMED COKE-ADVANCE, INVOLVING HONG KONG AND THAI CUSTOMS AND THE US DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION. BEN LEUNG, HEAD OF HONG KONG CUSTOMS DRUG INVESTIGATION BUREAU SAID: "TRANSNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES HAVE BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED, TRANSCENDING GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES. THIS CASE HAS DEMONSTRATED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN STAMPING OUT SUCH CROSS-BOUNDARY CRIMES."
