Hong Kong customs officials seized six tonnes (6.6 tons) of drugs worth more than HK$3.1 billion (US$397 million) from January to November, beating the record annual haul over the past two decades.
Methamphetamine, also known as Ice, accounted for half the total and arrived mostly by air or sea from Mexico. Other drugs seized included 692kg of cocaine, 540kg of ketamine, 419kg of cannabis and 88kg of heroin.
Their biggest haul this year involved HK$1.1 billion worth of liquid meth disguised as cartons of coconut water from Mexico in October.
The total for 11 months exceeded the four tonnes seized over the whole of last year of 2021 and 2020’s 3.4 tonnes.
A 63-year-old man who arrived from Brazil in May became the first air traveller arrested for drug trafficking since January last year.
He was among 11 arrivals arrested at the airport between May and November. Most were from South America or Africa and all had at least 1kg of cocaine.