HONG KONG: Hong Kong police has announced on Tuesday (April 14) that they have made their biggest seizure of cannabis plants ever in a raid on a drug-storing parking lot in Kwai Chung on late night Monday.

The cannabis plants, totalling 580kg, were found in plastic plates inside a container at the parking lot and were about to be trafficked in Hong Kong after being shipped from Canada, the police said Tuesday afternoon at a press briefing, adding that three men were arrested and will likely be prosecuted for drug trafficking.

The police warned of a shift in the main drug source from Southeast Asia to Canada in recent months as another 70kg of cannabis from Canada were seized by the airport customs in January, which will pose a serious challenge to Hong Kong’s anti-drug efforts.

There has also been a worrying increase in marijuana smokers in Hong Kong as the number of those under 21 years old surged nearly 50% from a year ago in 2019, the police said, urging parents to pay more attention to their children amid class suspension due to the Covid-19 epidemic. – Xinhua/Asian News Network