Hong Kong has made its first arrest over possession of the drug “space oil” after the substance was included under the city’s dangerous drugs law on Friday.
The Customs and Excise Department on Saturday seized one vape stick containing suspected space oil from a 28-year-old woman at the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan, according to a Sunday statement.
The woman, who arrived from Macau, was arrested and had been released on bail pending further investigation, the statement said.
The government says space oil has become the third most common type of drug abused by the city’s youth under 21, behind cannabis and cocaine.
Containing a short-acting anaesthetic called etomidate, space oil is said by authorities to cause “transient euphoria.”
Dangerous drugs
The arrest took place a day after an amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance took effect.
It classified etomidate and five other similar substances as “dangerous drugs” under Hong Kong law, according to a Security Bureau statement last week.
See also: Hong Kong to add etomidate to dangerous drug list in 2025 in effort to crack down on ‘space oil’
The other substances included metomidate, propoxate, and isopropoxate – which are chemical analogues similar to etomidate – as well as butonitazene and bromazolam.
Trafficking and illicit manufacturing of the substances carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine, while possession and consumption comes with a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$1 million, according to the Security Bureau’s statement.
The amendment is set to be scrutinised by the Legislative Council later under the “negative vetting” procedure. A separate order to crack down on 18 chemical ingredients used to make the six drugs will take effect on April 11 this year.
