Hong Kong Customs officers arrested a 43-year-old Portuguese woman at the airport on 26 July after discovering 25 kilograms of suspected ketamine concealed in her checked luggage — street value HK$9.8 million. The case, announced on 27 July, is the second major passenger drug seizure this month and underscores stepped-up risk-profiling of travellers following the full resumption of global flights. Officials say the suspect was intercepted based on ‘route, ticketing and behaviour indicators’, part of the Advanced Passenger Information (API) analytics Hong Kong adopted during the pandemic to monitor health risks and now repurposes for contraband. Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. For legitimate travellers the immediate impact is longer clearance times at peak hours as officers conduct secondary inspections. Airlines have been advised to adjust minimum connection times for transfer passengers from 60 to 75 minutes until August, and premium-lane access may be randomly suspended. Corporate travel managers should brief staff transiting through Hong Kong to avoid carrying packages for third parties and to ensure medicines are accompanied by prescriptions. Logistics firms shipping samples with couriers should allow additional buffer time in schedules. Customs emphasised that intelligence-led targeting will continue, with particular focus on flights from Europe and the Middle East. The authority encourages the public to report suspicious activity via its 24-hour hotline, signalling an embrace of community policing to complement technology.
