Hong Kong customs seizes HK$42 million in space oil
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong customs arrested a man on Tuesday after intercepting him and escorting him to a property in Kam Tin, Yuen Long, where officers uncovered a drug workshop and seized HK$42 million worth of illegal “space oil,” or etomidate. Investigators said the workshop was fitted with a semi-automated production line, and the raw materials seized there could have been processed into as many as 160,000 cartridges in a short period
Key Points
- Senior investigator Chan Kit-lun of the Customs and Excise Department’s drug investigation bureau said officers first intercepted a suspicious man on Tuesday before taking him to the Kam Tin property
- Inside the workshop, customs found more than 3,000 suspected cartridges containing etomidate, about 13.4kg of liquid etomidate and 3kg of etomidate powder
- Officers also seized drug-manufacturing and packaging equipment, including a semi-automated production line with a high-precision liquid-filling machine installed by the syndicate
- Chan said the seized raw materials could have produced up to 160,000 etomidate cartridges quickly, creating a serious risk if they had entered the market
- The suspect will face one count of manufacturing a dangerous drug and one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, and is due at Tuen Mun Court on Thursday
Why It Matters
The case points to a more industrialised method of producing etomidate cartridges in Hong Kong, with customs alleging a setup capable of rapid, large-volume output. It also underlines the legal consequences after etomidate was reclassified from a Part I poison to a dangerous drug in February last year, with trafficking carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine