Hong Kong customs brings ‘space oil’ pushers back down to earth in code-name crackdown

AI Summary

Hong Kong customs is asking e-commerce and social media platforms to remove listings for illicit etomidate marketed under coded names, including a reference to astronaut Yang Liwei. Authorities say they have made about 64 removal requests to platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo since agreements with them were established.

Hong Kong customs has requested the removal of e-commerce and social media listings by drug dealers who used the name of Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei as a code name to push “space oil”, also known as etomidate. Yang’s name was just one example of the subtle linguistic workarounds used by illicit vendors to evade platform filters. Customs had made about 64 requests to remove illicit items from platforms including Taobao, JD.com and Pinduoduo since signing agreements with them over the past year,...