HONG KONG, JAPAN POLICE SEIZE $53 MLN IN "ICE"

HONG KONG, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Hong Kong and Japanese police seized six
billion yen ($53.6 million) worth of the drug "ice" aboard an ocean-going
vessel in Japan and arrested 14 people, police said on Friday.

They seized 100 kg (220 lb) of methamphetamine, better known as ice, hidden
in two fire extinguishers aboard the vessel at Hamada, a port in Japan's
southwest Shimane Prefecture.

Police said they arrested nine crew members. Two Japanese and three Hong
Kong Chinese, believed to be members of a drug syndicate, were also held.

Koo Sii-hung, chief superintendent of Hong Kong police's Narcotics Bureau,
said earlier investigations into an active Hong Kong-based drug trafficking
syndicate had suggested the vessel was carrying drugs from Taiwan to Japan.

"We then informed the Japanese authorities and sent two of our NB (Narcotics
Bureau) officers there to coordinate and conduct a joint operation," Koo
told a news conference.

"The seized drugs could be sold at a street value of about six billion yen
or HK$420 million in Japan," Koo said.