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

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, according to a senior official. Taobao is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the South China Morning Post.