$640m shellacking for traffickers

Eunice Lam

Four people have been arrested in the biggest ever seizure of 1.1 tonnes of solid methamphetamine, or suspected ice, with an estimated market value of HK$640 million, in a shipment of seashells.

That came after officers checked a shipment of supposed seafood products from Mexico at Kwai Chung customhouse cargo examination compound destined for a residential address.

Some 100 of the over 600 bags raised suspicions under the X-ray machine and turned out to contained suspected meth modeled into shells.

Narcotics bureau investigations then found logistics companies had been instructed to take the products to a devanning area in Kwu Tung, Sheung Shui.

The drugs were then tracked to a unit in a Fo Tan industrial building that functioned as a storage and distribution center. Lots of packaging tools were seized.

Three men and a woman, aged between 27 and 60, were arrested.

The 27-year-old, a jobless man, was charged with trafficking dangerous drugs. He is suspected to be a core member.

The others, who claimed to be a delivery driver, a devanning area manager, and a logistics company manager, were released on bail.

Customs officers said the 5.3 tonnes of meth seized since last year was a 1.5-times increase over two years ago.