Hong Kong customs will set up an armed escort team and boost collaboration to quickly dispose of tonnes of confiscated drugs kept in a secret warehouse, otherwise some substances may take 35 years to destroy, the agency’s chief has revealed.
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Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat told the Post in an exclusive interview that his department had sped up procedures for disposing of confiscated drugs to enhance efficiency and as a measure to improve internal operations.
The head of the Customs and Excise Department also warned that more illicit cigarettes were being smuggled into Hong Kong as tobacco control policies were set to tighten. He said the number of cases of passengers intercepted by customs while trying to smuggle in cigarettes had risen by 50 per cent year on year in the first half of 2025.
“Last year, we had 19,000 cases of cigarette smuggling by passengers. At this increasing rate of passenger smuggling, we could reach 30,000 cases this year,” Chan said.
As for illegal drug seizures, customs recorded a 24.3 per cent year-on-year drop in the first five months of 2025. There were 433 drug seizures involving 162 arrests from January to May, compared with 572 in the same period last year, with 167 arrests.
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But the drug busts have created another issue: storage of the contraband in a secret, secure location until it can be disposed of following stringent procedures.