Guangzhou Customs cracked the largest drug smuggling case in the country, seizing 4.26 tons of the barbiturate hypnone.

Four suspects, including a Hong Kong permanent resident, were detained, officials said Monday.

A large quantity of the drug, used as a hypnotic or a sedative, was found in more than 140 air-conditioners seized from a vessel in the city's Huangpu Harbour.

Huangpu is one of the biggest foreign-oriented ports in China.

It was the first time Guangzhou Customs found drugs hidden inside air-conditioners, said Xu Yue, an official from Guangzhou Customs Monday.

The suspects were transferred to a local procuratorate for prosecution, said Xu.

Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court accepted the case, said a court official.

A public trial will start soon, but no specific date was given. All the suspects will be charged with illegally trafficking drugs on the Chinese mainland and could face the death penalty.

The case was cracked on August 28 last year when customs officers who received tips from local residents were inspecting a small-and-middle-sized vessel used to operate between Guangzhou and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Xu said.

The hypnone was seized after the air-conditioners on board were opened for inspection, Xu said.

The drugs were to be smuggled to a South African harbour via Hong Kong, Xu said.

The suspects were detained in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.

They loaded the air-conditioners in a rural village in Zengcheng, a suburban city of Guangzhou, Xu added.

Xu said the drugs were purchased by overseas gangs.

Hypnone was popular in Hong Kong in the 1990s. There is now a big market for the drug in the African continent.

The arrests and seizures were a heavy blow to local drug smugglers active in Guangdong and Hong Kong waters, Xu said.

Officials believe the crackdown will bust overseas gangs trafficking in the area.

Despite the achievement, Guangzhou Customs has vowed to continue its efforts to increase patrols and fight smuggling, particularly at the mouth of the Pearl River, Xu said.

More advanced equipment, weapons and technologies will be introduced to increase the effectiveness of the anti-smuggling efforts.

Guangzhou Customs has handled a total of 11 drug smuggling cases since May of 2003.

In addition to the large sum of hypnone, almost 5 kilograms of ice, 15.5 kilograms of heroin, almost 4 kilograms of cocaine, 9.2 kilograms of marijuana and a large number of ecstasy pills have been seized in the past year.

(China Daily June 22, 2004)