Hong Kong customs has confiscated HK$140 million (US$18 million) worth of liquid meth disguised as chilli sauce and smuggled in from Mexico in the city’s biggest seizure of the drug this year.
Customs officials said on Tuesday a North American man, 50, and a local man, 39, were arrested separately within two weeks after the methamphetamine, also known as Ice, was discovered in a secluded warehouse in Fanling late last month.
In the single-storey warehouse, officers also seized hundreds of kilograms of chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide, along with air purifiers, exhaust fans and cooking utensils, among others, according to assistant Superintendent Joseph Kwok Tsun-ah of the customs’ drug investigation bureau.
“Preliminary investigations suggested the warehouse was being used as a transit station to store this batch of narcotics and equipment before being moved to a [home-made] lab to turn liquid meth into solid or powder,” Kwok said.
Due to the massive quantity of the illegal substance involved, he said the finished product of the drug was probably intended for other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, so the transnational drug trafficking syndicate would achieve the highest profit margins.
The Post learned that the street value of meth in Australia and New Zealand was several times higher than HK$530 per gram in Hong Kong.
The 264kg haul pushed the amount of meth seizures by customs officers in the first five months of this year to around 470kg, according to latest figures.
After an in-depth investigation, officers from customs’ drug investigation bureau raided the warehouse in the Ping Che area of Fanling in the afternoon of May 29.
A pallet loaded with 60 boxes was on the premises. Each box carried 12 one-litre bottles labelled as chilli sauce.
The assistant superintendent said the illegal substance was found concealed in 264 bottles hidden in 24 out of 60 boxes, adding that samples tested positive for meth.
In addition to minor differences in colours, Kwok said that compared with genuine chilli sauce, the seized liquid meth appeared to be more transparent and less dense.
He said the investigations indicated the drug was disguised as chilli sauce and mingled with a shipment of the product smuggled into Hong Kong from Mexico.
No arrests were made at the warehouse.
Kwok said the seized drug had an estimated street value of more than HK$140 million and it was the biggest meth seizure this year.
He added that further arrests were not ruled out as the investigation was still under way.
Customs will continue to exchange intelligence with mainland Chinese and overseas law enforcement agencies to combat drug trafficking, according to Kwok.
In October 2022, Hong Kong customs seized HK$1.1 billion worth of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water from Mexico, the largest local haul of the illegal drug.
