Suspected cocaine with a street value of US$50 million was found in a Pacific International Lines (PIL) container ship that arrived in Hong Kong on 7 November.

In a joint operation, police and customs officers raided the Hong Kong-flagged 11,923 TEU Kota Pusaka after being informed that two men, identified as non-crew members, had boarded the vessel from a speedboat while it was docked in Guatemala.

Based on the route of the Kota Pusaka and the suspicious conduct, Hong Kong police deduced that the men were not simply stowaways and had smuggled the drugs into the ship and stayed on the Kota Pusaka to deliver the drugs into Hong Kong.

Shortly after the Kota Pusaka arrived at Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal, the police and customs officers boarded the ship and singled out three 40-ft containers, out of the more than 8,000 loaded containers.

The containers, declared as carrying Guatemalan marshmallows, appeared to have been opened and had seal numbers that were inconsistent with the relevant shipping documents, arousing the officers’ suspicions. Seal numbers are used to verify and confirm the shipment of a particular container from the port handler's end.

X-rays showed that the dubious containers had a different density and shape from the other containers on the ship. After opening the boxes, the officers found nine bags tied with a hemp rope. The bags contained life-saving supplies, such as life jackets and buoys, but were found to have concealed 318 packets of white powder that was confirmed to be cocaine. The purported drugs weighed 1 kilo.

The men who allegedly boarded the ship in Guatemala were arrested on the spot. The pair, a 24-year-old Hong Kong citizen and a 19-year-old Ecuadorean, were charged with drug trafficking on 9 November.

While the Hong Kong police revealed only the flag state of the ship involved, vessel-tracking data shows that among the ships that arrived in Hong Kong on 7 November, the Kota Pusaka matches the description of the vessel.

Kota Pusaka had called at Guatemala's Puerto Quetzal port on 25 September. The ship, serving the Asia-South America route, is now on its way to Kaohsiung.

A PIL spokesperson confirmed to Container News that the Kota Pusaka was indeed searched by Hong Kong police officers on 7 November.

She said, “We can confirm that our container vessel, Kota Pusaka, assisted the Hong Kong authorities with their operations. The vessel and crew have since been cleared and have departed Hong Kong.”