Customs makes first seizure of kratom just weeks after drug is banned in Hong Kong
- Customs discovers 2.5 tonnes of the drug in powder form in transit from Indonesia to Florida, where it is legal in all but one county
- No attempt was made to disguise the shipment, which arrived about two weeks after Hong Kong outlawed the drug
Customs officers discovered 2.5 tonnes of kratom being shipped from Banten in Indonesia to a trading company in Florida via Hong Kong, where it arrived on August 29, according to a source. The kratom was in powder form and contained in vacuum-sealed bags inside 124 boxes.
The consignment, worth an estimated HK$6.67 million (US$856,700), was declared as Mitragyna speciosa, the scientific name of the kratom tree, and no attempt had been made to disguise the bags.
The nature of the substance was confirmed on Thursday when the major active ingredient mitragynine was detected, and while no arrests had been made, a local office of an Indonesia-based logistics company was being investigated, the insider said.
“We will continue to pay attention to consignments from high-risk countries including Indonesia,” the insider said.