Cigarettes, K44mil worth of drugs seized

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By PISAI GUMAR
POLICE and Customs authorities have destroyed contraband cigarettes and dangerous drugs brought into the country but left unclaimed at Lae port.
Two 40-foot containers of contraband cigarettes and 18 cartons of ephedrine, a component in the production of the
illegal drug methamphetamine, or P.
Police and Customs officials, who asked not to be identified because their investigations had not been completed, believe it is part of a syndicate operating in the country.
An Australian Federal Police officer said the street value of 1kg of ephedrine was about K200,000 in Australia.
It means that the 218kg found in Lae could be valued at about K43.6 million.
According to a PNG Customs official, a foreign businessman in Port Moresby had imported the substance from China in 2014 but could not claim the cargo when offloaded in Lae.
The substance were packed in small containers and labelled as laundry detergents.
Meanwhile, the 2040 cartons in the two containers were estimated to earn K21 million.
The two 40-foot containers of cigarettes were bound for Port Moresby from Malaysia to a Chinese company.