Macau’s Judiciary Police arrested a local man for smuggling cannabis oil from Zhuhai to Macau hidden in a seasoning packet inside a cup of instant noodles.[1] The suspect was 31 years old, surnamed Cheong, and told police he was jobless.[1] Police said that on Sunday afternoon they learned a suspected drug package had arrived at a logistics company in Gongbei and had been picked up by Cheong.[1] After Cheong returned to Macau, officers intercepted him in a car park near the checkpoint.[1] The Judiciary Police date the interception to 26 March 2023, after the man took several packaged items from the Gongbei parcel onward to Macau via Gongbei Port.[2]
Officers found cannabis oil hidden in a seasoning packet in a cup of instant noodles amongst other snacks in the package.[1] The oil disguised as cup-noodle seasoning weighed around 5.61 grams.[2] The Judiciary Police said officers later seized an e-cigarette and two suspected drug-related e-cigarette cartridges from the man’s motorcycle, valuing all the drugs together at approximately MOP8,000.[2] The Macau Post Daily instead said the e-cigarette and two cartridges containing cannabis oil were seized from Cheong’s flat and vehicle.[1] Cheong admitted buying 5 ml of marijuana oil for his own consumption through a social networking platform for MOP2,000.[2]
The parcel had been delivered from Thailand to Zhuhai and was suspected of containing controlled substances for a Macao recipient.[2] The Judiciary Police then ran a joint investigation with Zhuhai police units, the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of Gongbei Customs and the Macao Customs Service.[2] Under questioning, Cheong admitted that he had smoked cannabis habitually while living outside Macau in the past.[1] He was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for illegal trafficking, illegal consumption and improper possession of utensils, while police kept tracing the origin and others involved.[2] Va Kio Daily described the seizure from the noodle seasoning packet as five millilitres of cannabis oil.[3]
