A HONG KONG man was sentenced to death and another man was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve in Shenzhen after they were convicted of drug trafficking, Shenzhen Customs said, citing sources from a local court.

    The Hong Kong man, identified as Tsang and his accomplice, surnamed Fu, were arrested Jan. 28, last year, with four other Malaysians. A total of 262 kg of crystal meth, also known as ice, were seized during the action.

    In a coordinated action by police in Australia, customs of New Zealand, Hong Kong and Shenzhen Customs, the law enforcement units busted the criminal ring that was using cargo shipments and courier delivery services for drug trafficking.

    This was the largest seizure of crystal meth by Chinese customs in five years and the largest meth smuggling case in the history of the Shenzhen Customs’ Anti-Smuggling Department.

    According to Shenzhen Customs, Tsang and Fu have been trafficking ice to Australia and New Zealand using courier services from Hong Kong since April 2014. However, they weren’t satisfied with the limited amount and started using cargo shipments from the Chinese mainland in December 2014. They declared 40 cartons of cobblestones to Australia to customs at Shekou Port. Yet Shenzhen Customs found six of the cartons were not glass cobblestones. Sixty-four kg of drugs were hidden in the glass cobblestones.

    Shenzhen Customs shared the information with their counterparts in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. On Jan. 27, 2015, Shenzhen Customs arrested Tsang and Fu when they entered Shenzhen from Hong Kong. Australia also arrested four Malaysian men, who received the drugs, and seized 11.5 kg of ice.

    Hong Kong Customs seized drugs and collected evidence at 11 locations including a drug packaging site.

    Tsang was released in 1999 after 20 years in prison for robbery and manslaughter. He started smuggling electronic products from Hong Kong to the mainland, and later set up an accounting company to engage in loan sharking. He began drug trafficking with Fu, because Fu knew of international trade and was unemployed due to business bankruptcy. (Han Ximin)