Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine at airport
Hong Kong Customs on September 17 seized about 15 kilograms of suspected ketamine with an estimated market value of about $7.26 million at Hong Kong International Airport.
A 42-year-old foreign male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Dusseldorf, Germany, via Helsinki, Finland, on that day. During customs clearance, the batch of suspected ketamine was seized from 30 coffee powder packages inside his check-in suitcase. The man was subsequently arrested.
An investigation is ongoing.
Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected ketamine at airport Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Acting Secretary for Health meets delegation of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee, met with a delegation led by Vice Commissioner of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) Dr Wang Zhiyong today (September 19) to have in-depth discussions and exchanges on promoting Chinese medicine (CM) development.
Dr Lee said, "CM constitutes an integral part of the healthcare system of Hong Kong and also serves as a traditional strength of the city. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is committed to promoting the high-quality development of CM in Hong Kong on all fronts, and has been stepping up efforts and devoting more resources to fully press ahead with various tasks in recent years. Among them are driving the construction of the first Chinese Medicine Hospital (CMH) of Hong Kong and the permanent building of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute for commissioning in phases starting from the end of next year, increasing the quotas for government-subsidised CM outpatient services, expanding the Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine services, launching a world-class Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines, taking forward scientific research and standard-setting for Chinese medicines testing, injecting additional funds into the Chinese Medicine Development Fund, commencing the formulation of the Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint (Blueprint), and boosting the establishment of CM talent pool.
"The HKSAR Government expresses sincere gratitude to the NATCM for its unwavering support for the development of CM in Hong Kong. Since November last year, the NATCM has been collaborating with the Health Bureau (HHB) in rolling out the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Talent Training Programme, in which two short-term and one medium term training programmes were held in Beijing to date, providing advanced clinical training to nearly 90 Hong Kong Chinese medicine practitioners and Chinese medicines professionals with a view to accelerating the nurturing of Hong Kong's CM talent pool for meeting the future development needs of the CMH and the entire CM sector of Hong Kong."
The HKSAR Government is currently collaborating with the CM sector to formulate the Blueprint expected for release next year to map out the vision and strategies for the future development of CM in Hong Kong. The Blueprint involves different stakeholders within and outside the CM sector and covers a number of major areas, including service development, talent training, professional development, industry development, scientific research and innovation, public education as well as cultural inheritance.
Dr Lee said, "The HHB attaches great importance to the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization as adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and will strenuously work in line with the objective of deepening medical and healthcare reform as stipulated in the Resolution by pursuing innovation in the healthcare realm, and giving full play to the characteristics of CM in Hong Kong and the city's strengths in areas such as service delivery, standard-setting, international connectivity and clinical research in a bid to play a more active role in the construction of CM highlands in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and better integrate into the overall development of the country, thereby making contributions to the high-quality development of traditional medicine of our nation."
The NATCM delegation arrived in Hong Kong this morning for a four-day visit. During their visit to Hong Kong, the delegation will participate in the Launch Ceremony of the Clinical Guideline of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Smoking Cessation as well as the National Survey of Chinese Materia Medica Resources (Hong Kong Region) Activity Day organised by the Department of Health. In addition, the delegation will attend the 75th National Day Chinese Medicine Expo Carnival organised by the Federation of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Chinese Medicines Traders Association with sponsorship from the HHB. The Carnival will be held at Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill on September 21 and 22, featuring an array of activities for public participation, including the exhibition of Chinese herbal medicines, health maintenance seminars and free CM consultation sessions.
The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; Deputy Secretary for Health Mr Eddie Lee; the Project Director of the Chinese Medicine Hospital Project Office of the HHB, Dr Cheung Wai-lun; the Senior Advisor (Secretary for Health's Office), Dr Joe Fan; the Commissioner for Chinese Medicine Development of the HHB, Dr Vincent Chung; the Assistant Director of Health (Chinese Medicine), Dr Edmund Fong; the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (HA), Dr Tony Ko; the Director (Strategy and Planning) of the HA, Dr Ching Wai-kuen; and the Chief Manager (Chinese Medicine) of the HA, Ms Rowena Wong, also attended the meeting.
Acting Secretary for Health meets delegation of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Acting Secretary for Health meets delegation of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
