Illicit $37 million profits of fugitive 'Ice Queen' Lee Chau-ping can be recovered by the Government even though she is still on the run, a judge ruled yesterday.
Deputy Judge Gareth Lugar-Mawson gave prosecutors the go-ahead to arrange the sale of her property in Hong Kong and to recover millions of dollars stashed in bank accounts.
It is the first time such an order has been made in the case of a drug trafficker who is still at large.
Lee, 44, one of the world's most wanted drug dealers, is believed to have ruled a criminal empire responsible for producing 4.8 tonnes of the highly addictive drug 'ice'.
The drug was produced in factories on the mainland.
The judge made a similar ruling on the $14 million proceeds of her missing Hong Kong distributor, Tam Wai-hung, 46.