HK Customs Makes Biggest Methamphetamine Trafficking Haul

Hong Kong customs seized the biggest haul of trafficked methamphetamine in Hong Kong’s history on October 23. An amount of 1.8 metric tons (2 tons) of suspected high-purity liquid methamphetamine was concealed in a coconut water cargo shipment from Mexico. The market value is estimated to be about HK$1.1 billion (approx. US$140 million). It is believed that a large transnational criminal group was involved.

Fong Heung-wing, Divisional Commander (Drug Investigation), Customs Drug Investigation Bureau of Hong Kong, said that after the customs exchanged intelligence, it was expected that a transnational criminal group had converted methamphetamine into a liquid state and planned to smuggle it to Hong Kong by sea. Therefore they started to step up inspection of the goods and investigated the shipment database.

The custom inspected an air cargo shipment of goods from Mexico to Australia by way of Hong Kong on Oct. 14 and seized 76 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine concealed in compartments of three large transformers, with a market value of about HK$46 million (approx. $5.86 million).

On Oct. 20, it was found from the shipping database that coconut water would arrive in Hong Kong from Mexico in the coming days.

It is unusual to ship coconut water from Mexico to Hong Kong. The previous shipment from Mexico to Hong Kong took place in 2016, and the amount was only 6 kilograms. In addition, Mexico is not the country of origin for coconut water, so it was rare to export up to 4 metric tons (4.4 tons) of coconut water, and the information of the receiving company in Australia could not be found on the Internet.

Smudges and white crystals are found on the carton, and there were painted arrows and leakage near the caps of coconut water bottles containing the suspected liquid methamphetamine. (Courtesy of News.gov.hk)

Fong pointed out that the South American shipper and the Hong Kong consignee of coconut water are both multinational logistics companies. It was expected that the goods would stay in the Hong Kong warehouse for a week and then be consolidated with other goods for transfer to Australia.

It is believed that this was to “make the goods clean” and reduce the risk of being inspected in Australia.

Au Yeung Man-ching, Divisional Commander (Containerized Cargo Examination), Boundary and Ports Branch (BP Branch), said that the customs inspected the cargo at the Kwai Chung Customhouse on Oct. 23 and found that the batch of coconut water was placed with other goods in the consolidated container, with a total of 600 cartons on 4 pallets containing about 7,700 bottles of “coconut water.”

After X-ray scanning, the image showed that 1,800 bottles of “coconut water,” on two pallets and a total of 150 boxes, were different from normal coconut water. And there were smudges and white crystals on the carton; the caps of the bottles were also painted with arrows, and leakage was found.

After testing, the customs seized about 1.8 metric tons (2 tons) of suspected liquid methamphetamine in the 150 boxes of coconut water.

Lee Ka-ming, Head of the Customs Drug Investigation Bureau, said that no arrest had been made in Hong Kong, and the case had been reported to the World Customs Organization, which will cooperate with South America and Oceania to combat drug trafficking. He did not rule out the possibility of arrest in other regions.

Lee said that the prices of drugs in different regions are different. The market value of the seized drugs in South America is about HK$18 million (approx. US$2.3 million). After arriving in Hong Kong successfully, the value has increased more than 60 times to HK$1.1 billion (US$140 million). If it arrives in Australia, the final destination, the market value can be as high as HK$8 billion (US$1 billion).

The cases of coconut water and the shipment of transformers arrived in Hong Kong by sea and air, respectively, by the same roundabout routes for later transportation to Australia. It is believed that they were operated by the same large transnational criminal group.

This year, up to October, the HK customs had seized 5.4 metric tons (5.9 tons) of drugs, an increase of 70 percent compared with 3.1 metric tons (3.4 tons) in the same period last year, of which three tons were methamphetamine, which was also an increase compared to 1.25 metric tons (1.37 tons) in 2021.

Hong Kong Customs shows samples of coconut water, suspected liquid methamphetamine, and a box containing the suspected methamphetamine. (Courtesy of News.gov.hk)