Customs seizes 47,000 tablets of illegally imported oral Covid drugs

Customs on Monday said they have seized 47,000 tablets of oral Covid drugs illegally imported into Hong Kong, with the medication intended for sales on the mainland where such Western medicines remain limited.

The seized oral Covid drugs molnupiravir were among a haul of illegally imported pharmaceutical products worth HK$3 million, which also include drugs for curing cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

According to a Customs spokesman, about 12,000 pills of molnupiravir were first seized inside two air parcels declared as gifts at the airport’s cargo terminal, with the parcel arriving in the city from India on March 21.

Further investigations have led officers to a unit in a Sheung Shui commercial building on March 23, where they seized another 35,000 tablets of illegally imported oral Covid drugs and about 70,000 tablets of other suspected controlled medicines.

On April 1, Officers intercepted two additional air parcels, which contained 900 vials of suspected illegally imported controlled medicines.

During the operation, a 55-year-old man suspected to be in connection with the case was arrested on suspicion of importing pharmaceutical products without a licence – an offence punishable by up to two years in jail and a HK$500,000 fine. He was also detained for possession of controlled drugs without a licence, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a HK$100,000 fine.

Customs said the arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation and the likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.

The news came as China has reported up to 25,000 new Covid infections daily, with the country relying heavily on traditional Chinese medicine to fight the coronavirus.

Despite China having approved several Western medication including Pfizer Inc's Paxlovid and Brii Biosciences Ltd's antibody-based medicine to treat Covid patients, it is not clear how widely they are used.

Fang Min, president of the Shanghai Shuguang Hospital, said earlier that about 98 percent of Shanghai's Covid patients are taking traditional Chinese medicine treatment, such as flu medicine Lianhua Qingwen, although a lack of reliable clinical data limits their use outside the country.

Lianhua Qingwen, said to be effective in suppressing symptoms such as fever and sore throat, has been heralded by the central government as an effective treatment against Covid-19 since 2020.

Among Covid-19 supplies sent from the mainland to Hong Kong to help fight the city’s Covid outbreaks were boxes of Lianhua Qingwen pills. They were distributed for free through the government’s anti-epidemic service bags.

While the same product from some drug makers was previously registered in Hong Kong as over-the-counter traditional Chinese medication, those sent by Beijing were exempt from registration after Hong Kong evoked an emergency legislation to cope with the coronavirus epidemic in late February.