Hong Kong  - Police seized a shipment of cocaine valued at 1.3 million US dollars smuggled from South America in cocoa boxes, officers said Wednesday.

Agents arrested six men and seized 12 kilograms of cocaine in the raid Tuesday which followed a two-month surveillance operation against an international drug trafficking syndicate.

Police and customs officers kept tabs on a consignment of cocaine flown to Hong Kong from Ecuador via Panama and Amsterdam and hidden inside 20 boxes of coca powder.

They followed the delivery from Hong Kong International Airport to a downtown address in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district, a police spokesman said.

Two men were arrested as they unpacked the cocaine and four others believed to be connected with the consignment were arrested nearby.

The six suspects, aged 21 to 43, were charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs. Police suspected the cocaine was intended for the Hong Kong market. (dpa)