HONG KONG, Sept 15 — Hong Kong police have made their largest-ever seizure of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ‘Ice’, confiscating HK$210 million (RM116.1 million) worth of the drug hidden in furniture and arresting a 26-year-old Malaysian on suspicion of trafficking.
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), Acting Superintendent Cheung Hok-fung from the narcotics bureau said yesterday that the operation uncovered 335kg of solid Ice and 55kg of cocaine concealed within 25 of the 245 boxes that were hidden in furniture.
The drugs were discovered in a shipping container that had arrived from the United States to Hong Kong on Tuesday.
According to Cheung, the syndicate had arranged for a logistics company to pick up the containers and transfer the goods to a warehouse in Yuen Long on Thursday.
Police raided the warehouse on the same day, finding the 26-year-old Malaysian man unboxing the goods. During the raid, officers also discovered gloves and electronic scales at the scene.
Cheung told SCMP that the Malaysian suspect had entered the city as a tourist a year ago to plan the trafficking operation.
He has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug and is set to appear in Tuen Mun Court tomorrow.
SCMP reported Senior Inspector Tong Wai-kwok as saying that a syndicate based in Malaysia had been recruiting foreigners to traffic drugs and had broken their smuggling operations into smaller parts to evade detection.
“We believe that the syndicate in Malaysia has been recruiting its residents to go to Hong Kong repeatedly for drug trafficking,” he said.
Tong also highlighted that the syndicate was exploiting the global logistics industry for their criminal activities, urging companies to be cautious of customers providing vague information.
Under Hong Kong law, trafficking in dangerous drugs is punishable by a HK$5 million fine and life imprisonment.
