Customs Seize Record HK$300mn Worth Of Crystal Meth

Customs officers announced on Monday that they had made their largest ever seizure of Crystal Methamphetamine, also known as ice, with the haul worth almost HK$300 million.

Some 500 kilogrammes of the drug was found in a shipping container that contained cement powder.

Officers said they were suspicious because the shipment came to Hong Kong via a complicated route – beginning its journey in Mexico, and stopping in South Korea and Vietnam before arriving in the SAR.

Benson Lee, customs' head of ports and maritime command, added that the container was only a third full, with goods that weren't expensive.

Companies usually fill a container to boost cost efficiency, Lee explained.

He said there were about 1,170 bags of cement powder, and the drugs were concealed in 250 of them.

“This is a heavy object. When our officers conducted the examinations, we had to remove the cargo from the container for x-ray checks and open examinations. This increased the difficulty and it’s one of the common methods used by the criminals,” Lee said.

Authorities added that the container was bound for Australia, where the value of Ice is much higher than in Hong Kong.

No arrests had been made so far.