Key facts
- Hong Kong customs asked platforms to remove listings selling etomidate under the code name of astronaut Yang Liwei.
- Customs made about 64 removal requests to Taobao, JD.com and Pinduoduo since signing agreements with them over the past year.
- The report did not say how many listings were removed or whether any arrests followed.
Hong Kong customs has asked e-commerce and social media platforms to remove listings by drug dealers who used the name of Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei as a code name to sell etomidate, also known as space oil, the South China Morning Post reported on November 10, 2026.
The name was one example of the linguistic workarounds vendors used to evade platform filters, according to the report. 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.
The report did not say how many listings were removed or whether any arrests followed. It also did not give the date of the requests.