Press Release

Hong Kong Customs reminds public before long weekend of Ching Ming Festival holiday not to bring "space oil drug" into or out of Hong Kong

With the long weekend of Ching Ming Festival holiday approaching, Hong Kong Customs today (April 3) reminded members of the public and travellers not to bring "space oil drug" into or out of Hong Kong in order to avoid breaching the law and incurring criminal liabilities.

To step up the control of the "space oil drug", the Government has listed etomidate, the main ingredient of the "space oil drug" and its three analogues (metomidate, propoxate and isopropoxate) as dangerous drugs.

A spokesman for Hong Kong Customs said, "With the long weekend of the Ching Ming Festival holiday approaching, we will take more stringent enforcement actions against cross-boundary trafficking of the 'space oil drug' and other narcotics activities. Hong Kong Customs will not tolerate drug trafficking criminals and will bring them to justice."

Drug trafficking is a serious offence. Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment and a fine of $5 million. The maximum penalty upon conviction for possession of dangerous drugs is imprisonment for seven years and a fine of $1 million.

With a view to enhancing enforcement efficiency, Customs has incorporated etomidate and its analogues into the databases of raman spectrometers and ion scanners to increase frontline personnel's capability in detecting the "space oil drug". Customs will continue to work closely with Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies to stringently combat cross-boundary drug trafficking activities.

Members of the public are urged to report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) and online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

Ends/Thursday, April 3, 2025