Police raided two factory units in Tuen Mun and Yau Tong and arrested ten people suspected of running indoor cannabis farms.[1] The two grow operations were linked and were counted as one haul, described as Hong Kong’s biggest cannabis cultivation seizure since police began keeping drug seizure records in 1990.[1][2]
Officers seized more than 2,000 cannabis plants and 24 kg of cannabis buds, with an estimated street value of about USD 38 million as stated in the earliest opened report.[1] The units measured between 2,000 and 3,000 square feet and housed both the cultivation operation and the workers’ living quarters, with windows covered by wooden planks and aluminium foil.[1]
The two suspected ringleaders were a father-and-son team, and their wives were also arrested.[1] Six workers from Vietnam had been recruited to cultivate the plants, had worked illegally in Hong Kong for six months, were forbidden from leaving the premises, and were paid about USD 655 per month sent to their families in Vietnam.[1] Police said the cannabis was grown for domestic use and were still investigating distribution methods and how seeds were procured.[1]
