Shanghai customs officers were faced with a new take on whitefish last November, when an investigation of an unusually hefty shipment of “Pacific mackerel” yielded almost as much cocaine as seafood.
Authorities discovered 1.1 tons of cocaine packed alongside the frozen fish in 276 cartons, which were meant to be shipped to Cambodia from South America before being flagged during transfer in Shanghai. The bust, which was only announced recently, goes down as the biggest cocaine smuggling scheme to be found by Chinese customs in recent years, according to a report from Shanghai Daily.
In an effort to catch the criminal shippers who sent the illicit cargo, authorities repackaged the cartons and sent the mackerel through to Cambodia to Phnom Penh, where Chinese and Cambodian police were waiting. Four suspects were apprehended in connection to the shipment, with three other suspects escaping the sting and going on the run, reported Customs Today.
