Mexican authorities seize nearly 10 tons of liquid meth headed for Australia

A huge shipment of liquid methamphetamine en route to Australia has been seized by Mexican soldiers who found it hidden in a shipping container loaded with 7,200 bottles of clear liquid labeled mezcal.

The meth shipment, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, was found on a Liberian-flagged ship in the port of Manzanillo on the Pacific coast. According to the shipping documents, the container was destined for Australia.

The Mexican Navy, which has taken over customs duties in some ports, said the shipment contained 9.5 tons of liquid meth, though the dry weight of the drugs, once separated from the solution, would be about 5.4 tons.

The bottles bore the brand name Mezcal Social and were marked “artisan mezcal,” an alcoholic beverage made from distilled agave.

The Mexican Navy said sniffer dogs located the shipment.

“Samples were then taken to be sent to the Secretary of the Navy’s Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology for analysis, which confirmed it was “positive” for methamphetamine,” a statement said.

So far this year, Mexican Marines have seized more than 124 tons of meth nationwide.

The Mexican Navy recently took over customs duties in ports to curb smuggling.

It wouldn’t be the first time Mexican cartels, which dominate the international meth trade, have tried to smuggle the drug into Australia or in liquid form.

In 2022, Hong Kong officials seized about $5.9 million worth of crystal meth hidden in a shipment of electrical transformers headed from Mexico to Australia.

Days later, they reported finding 1.8 tons of liquid methamphetamine, stored in bottles labeled coconut water, that had arrived by sea from Mexico. The bust was Hong Kong’s largest-ever meth seizure.

And in April of this year, Mexican Navy inspectors intercepted 11,520 tequila bottles destined for export to Australia that actually contained concentrated liquid meth worth $1 billion.

The bottles, which contain a brownish liquid similar to tequila and were also intercepted at the seaport of Manzanillo on the Pacific coast, contain about 8,640 kg of meth.

Sniffer dogs also tipped off the Marines on that occasion, leading to drug testing of the cargo.

A previous shipment of liquid meth was hidden in 11,520 bottles at the same port before being discovered on April 18 by the Mexican Navy, known as SEMAR, in the port of Manzanillo.

Sniffer dogs and a chemical identification system were used to confirm that the bottles, found in nearly 1,000 cardboard boxes, contained the illicit drug

The drugs were meant to arrive in NSW before they were seized