Police seized 25 packets of suspected etomidate powder weighing about 25kg from a logistics-company office in Lai Chi Kok on October 6. They described it as the force’s largest-ever seizure of this type and estimated the powder was worth more than HK$31 million.
Police estimated the powder could be made into more than 120,000 etomidate cartridges. Officers also found drug-packaging tools at the office, inside an industrial building on King Lam Street.
A large quantity of new courier bags was also found. Police believe the bags may have been intended to make drug shipments look like ordinary goods.
Two men were arrested: a 47-year-old shareholder in the logistics company and a 48-year-old employee. Police said the company was legally registered and had real business activity, while investigating whether a drug group had used its name to disguise a storage site.
A senior inspector said police had not ruled out that drugs were being stockpiled for supply to local entertainment venues around Halloween.
The men were being held for investigation. They were expected to be provisionally charged with trafficking in dangerous drugs and appear at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on October 8.