Hong Kong customs seizes HK$140 million of liquid meth disguised as chilli sauce
- Two men, including visitor from North America, arrested after illegal substance discovered in Fanling warehouse
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.
The Post learned on Tuesday two men, a North American, 50, and a resident, 29, were arrested separately within two weeks after the methamphetamine, also known as Ice, was discovered in a warehouse in Fanling late last month.
Officials also seized about 350kg (772lbs) of sodium hydroxide, 28 litres (7.4 gallons) of acetone and 10 litres of hydrochloric acid, along with household items that included a tent, four induction hobs, a large thermal box, blenders, air purifiers, exhaust fans and cooking utensils.
“Assembling all these household items is enough to set up a drug production laboratory [used for turning liquid meth into a solid state],” Assistant Superintendent Joseph Kwok Tsun-ah of the customs’ drug investigation bureau said.
But he warned that the seized chemicals, needed for refining the drug, were highly corrosive and flammable and that careless handling could cause a fire or an explosion.
“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 lab to turn liquid meth into solid or powder,” he added.
Due to the massive quantity of the drug involved, Kwok said part of the finished product 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 has learned that the street value of meth in Australia and New Zealand is several times higher than the HK$530 a gram costs 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.
Officers from the customs’ drug investigation bureau raided the warehouse in the Ping Che area of Fanling on May 29.
A pallet loaded with 60 boxes was found on the premises. Each box held 12 one-litre bottles labelled as chilli sauce.
Kwok said the drugs were found in 264 bottles hidden in 24 of the boxes and that tests had confirmed they contained meth.
He added that the bottles containing the drug had significant differences in colour compared with genuine chilli sauce and the seized liquid meth appeared to be more transparent and less dense.
He said investigations suggested the drugs were mixed with a shipment of real chilli sauce and smuggled from Mexico.
No arrests were made at the warehouse.
Kwok said the drugs had an estimated street value of more than HK$140 million and was the biggest meth seizure this year.
Senior Superintendent Wong Ho-yin, who heads the bureau, said that surveillance showed drug traffickers from overseas had arrived in Hong Kong in an attempt to work with city criminals to move drugs and equipment from the warehouse to their rented industrial unit.
“Setting up a drug production laboratory in an urban area would be like a massive time bomb, posing a serious threat to the safety of residents,” he said.
Wong added the bureau had smashed a transnational drug trafficking syndicate that planned to set up a production lab in the city and prevented a huge amount of meth from entering the market.
Kwok said that further arrests had not been ruled out and that the investigation continued.
He added that customs officials will continue to exchange intelligence with mainland Chinese and overseas law enforcement agencies to combat drug trafficking.
Hong Kong customs seized HK$1.1 billion worth of liquid meth hidden in cartons of coconut water from Mexico in October 2022, the largest city haul of the illegal drug.
