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作成日: 2023/01/16 08:43

更新日: 2025/12/09 08:56

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Hong Kong customs seizes HK$500,000 worth of suspected Covid drugs, arrests couple over illegal import, possession
Sammy Heung, Karin Lyu, Kitty Wang

Hong Kong customs this week seized around HK$500,000 in suspected Covid-19 antiviral drugs. Photo: Handout
Customs officers on Saturday arrest couple and discover 130 boxes of pills at flat after earlier intercepting air parcel containing another 250 packages
Meanwhile, Post finds local pharmacies have begun restocking popular painkiller Panadol after last month's wave of panic buying
Hong Kong customs officers have seized 380 boxes of suspected Covid-19 antiviral drugs worth HK$500,000 (US$64,017) and arrested a couple over allegations of illegally importing and possessing unregistered medicines.

The announcement by customs on Sunday came as some local dispensaries began to restock Panadol, a popular painkiller and fever-relief drug that flew off shelves during a recent wave of panic buying amid a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China.

The department said it had intercepted an air parcel from India containing around 250 boxes of the pills on Wednesday, which was addressed to a flat in Tin Shui Wai.

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Customs arrested the husband, 40, when he attempted to collect the parcel at his local post office on Saturday, while his 34-year-old wife was apprehended at home, where officers discovered another 130 boxes.

Hong Kong customs seizes HK$600,000 worth of Covid medicine 'intended' for mainland
Hong Yan, an inspector with the department's syndicate crimes investigation bureau, said the seized oral drugs had no registration numbers and officers were investigating whether they were authentic.

"The efficacy, safety and quality of these drugs are questionable," he said.

"The directions of our investigation will include the channels of their purchases, how they will deal with the suspected Covid-19 drugs and whether there are other people involved locally."

Investigators suspected the oral drugs were Primovir, an Indian-made generic version of Covid-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid that was not registered for use in Hong Kong or the mainland, he added.

The drug is also included in part one of Hong Kong's Poisons List, which covers items that can only be sold by authorised or listed sellers.

The 380 boxes of suspected Covid-19 antivirals were seized by customs officers. Photo: Handout
Paxlovid and Molnupiravir are the only two approved and registered Covid-19 oral drugs in Hong Kong, which can only be supplied to healthcare institutions and prescribed by doctors.

Primovir has become a much sought-after medication on the black market across the border, amid a shortage of approved antivirals during the virus outbreak there.

Hong appealed to the public not to buy pharmaceutical products from unknown sources, adding that all approved medicines featured a label consisting of "HK-" followed by a five-digit registration number.

Hong Kong drug suppliers find own cure for coronavirus medicine shortage after appeal
Customs has confiscated more than HK$660,000 worth of pain, fever and Covid-19 drugs from inbound travellers and intercepted another HK$9.5 million in cargo at control points linked to 56 cases between December 1 and January 12.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, it is illegal to import pharmaceutical products and medicine without a valid licence, with the offence punishable by up to two years in jail and a HK$500,000 fine.

Anyone found in possession of items listed in part one of the Poisons List without complying with the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance can face a maximum fine of HK$100,000 and up to two years' imprisonment.

Hong Kong customs seizes almost HK$1 million in contraband Covid-19 drugs
On the same day as the announcement by customs, a Post check found that some chemists across the city had begun restocking Panadol.

The operators of two pharmacies in Sai Ying Pun said they had "a few boxes" available every day, while another outlet in Jordan revealed they had replenished their stock of fever medicines.

"In the past several days, not as many people as before have come to buy those fever medicines," a staff member at the store in Jordan said.

"Now we still have dozens of boxes of them, including Panadol, and Fortune Coltalin, another common paracetamol-based flu medicine."

A shortage of painkillers and fever-relief medicines last month prompted health minister Health Lo Chung-mau to appeal for residents not to panic-buy and telling them the government would secure sufficient supplies.

Lo had also reminded the public not to exclusively chase after certain brands, explaining that there were 700 kinds of paracetamol-based medicine on the market.

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