On their way to Australia, officials discoverd 1.8 tonnes of liquid meth concealed in cartons of coconut water.
Hong Kong has made its largest-ever methamphetamine seizure after discovering a shipment arriving from Mexico valued at approximately 1.1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($140 million), officials said on Saturday.
Customs officers discovered 1.8 tonnes of liquid meth concealed in cartons of coconut water heading to Australia, setting a new record.
The shipment, which authorities said was likely the effort of a massive global drug trafficking ring, emerges as the Chinese financial hub observes an increase in meth-related drug busts.
“We think that the high-purity liquid meth came from South America.” “It was packaged there and shipped via a perplexing route to Hong Kong to be delivered to Australia,” said senior superintendent Lee Ka-ming, head of Hong Kong customs’ narcotic investigation bureau.
There have been no arrests so far.
The latest impound came just days after enforcement seized $5.9 million in meth obscured in electrical transformers bound for Australia.
Customs official Fong Heung-wing told reporters that Hong Kong authorities were notified of the probability of large liquid meth shipments entering the city through intelligence exchanges with overseas law enforcement.
“Mexican coconut water (shipments) are exceptionally rare… “The last was in 2016 weighing only 6 kgs,” Fong said, adding that the shipment’s size was also suspect.
Last Sunday, the contraband was discovered among other items in a cargo container as well as distinguished using X-rays.
An internet search for the shipment’s supposed recipient, an Australian company, turned up nothing, according to officials.
The prior largest meth impounded in Hong Kong occurred in April, when officials discovered 700kg of the drug obscured in Mexican industrial equipment.
