Hong Kong and Japanese police have arrested four people and seized 24 kg of 'ice' in a joint operation against a regional drug trafficking syndicate, according to news from the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Tuesday.

The 'ice' was worth 90 million Hong Kong dollars (about US$11.51 million) in market price, the news said.

Japanese police seized the drugs on July 12 from a container delivered to Osaka of Japan from Canada based on intelligence provided by Hong Kong Police. They arrested three Hong Kong men aged 39 to 49 for drug trafficking.

One of them, aged 49, is believed to be the syndicate mastermind. His 34-year-old wife was arrested on the same day in Hong Kong for money laundering.

Police have since frozen four properties, bank accounts and other assets worth about 17.5 million Hong Kong dollars (about US$2.24 million) in the names of the mastermind and his wife.

The police also seized about 15 million yen (about US$120,243), a pistol and 10 bullets.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2007)