Officers seize 1.8 tonnes of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water en path to Australia.
Hong Kong has made its biggest-ever seizure of methamphetamine after uncovering a cargo arriving from Mexico value about 1.1 billion Hong Kong {dollars} ($140m), authorities stated on Saturday.
Customs officers discovered a record-breaking 1.8 tonnes of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water en path to Australia.
The cargo, which officers stated doubtless concerned an enormous worldwide drug trafficking ring, comes because the Chinese language monetary hub sees an increase in drug busts involving meth.
“We consider the liquid meth, of excessive purity, got here from South America. It was packaged there and shipped through a convoluted path to Hong Kong, to be despatched to Australia,” stated senior superintendent Lee Ka-ming, head of the drug investigation bureau at Hong Kong customs.
No arrests have but been made.
Busts proceed
Hong Kong has to date this yr uncovered greater than double the meth seized in the entire of final yr, with nearly three tonnes confiscated by authorities.
The newest bust got here days after regulation enforcement seized meth value $5.9m hidden in electrical transformers, which was additionally headed for Australia.
Hong Kong authorities had been alerted through intelligence exchanges with abroad regulation enforcement to the potential of giant liquid meth shipments arriving within the metropolis, customs official Fong Heung-wing instructed reporters.
“Coconut water (shipments) from Mexico are extraordinarily uncommon … the final time was in 2016 and weighed simply six kilogrammes,” Fong stated, including that the dimensions of the cargo additionally made it suspicious.
The contraband was discovered amongst different items in a cargo container and recognized utilizing X-rays final Sunday.
A web based seek for the cargo’s alleged recipient, an Australian firm, got here up empty, officers stated.
The earlier largest meth bust in Hong Kong got here in April when officers discovered 700kg of the drug hidden in industrial tools from Mexico.
