Hong Kong has made its biggest ever seizure of methamphetamine after uncovering a shipment arriving from Mexico worth more than HK$1 billion (US$130 million), authorities said Saturday.
Customs officials found a record-breaking 1.8 tonnes of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water en route for Australia.
The shipment, which officials said likely involved a massive international drug trafficking ring, comes as the Chinese finance hub sees a rise in drug busts involving meth.
We believe the liquid meth, of high purity, came from South America. It was packaged there and shipped via a convoluted route to Hong Kong, to be sent to Australia,” said senior superintendent Lee Ka-ming, head of the drug investigation bureau at Hong Kong customs.
No arrests have yet been made.
Hong Kong has so far this year uncovered more than double the meth seized in the whole of last year, with almost three tonnes confiscated by authorities.
The latest bust came days after law enforcement seized meth worth US$5.9 million hidden in electrical transformers, which was also headed for Australia.
Hong Kong authorities were alerted via intelligence exchanges with overseas law enforcement to the possibility of large liquid meth shipments arriving in the city, customs official Fong Heung-wing told reporters.