Acting on intelligence, officers from the Kowloon East traffic headquarters’ enforcement and control division mounted a targeted operation, focusing on a driver operating a green minibus route between Yau Tong and the Anderson public transport terminus.
Police safely intercepted the target’s minibus and escorted seven passengers off the vehicle before conducting an oral fluid screening test on the driver.
Preliminary investigations found he had consumed meth before driving, resulting in his immediate arrest.
“This type of behaviour is not merely a violation, but poses a serious threat to the lives of passengers and other road users,” senior inspector Poon Chun-ho said.
He said drivers who knowingly take drugs that impair judgement and reaction, but still operate public transport are placing the safety of every passenger at extreme risk, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
The driver has been denied bail and is due to appear at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday.
The operation followed the arrest of three other minibus and taxi drivers on suspicion of drug driving in June.
Ho said two of those drivers have since been convicted, receiving jail terms of two months and four months, as well as driving bans of two and five years.
The third driver has been released on bail pending trial.
