Hong Kong police arrest girl, 13, over space oil possession after viral video
Hong Kong Free Press
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested over possessing space oil following a viral video of her appearing to smoke on a train and stumbling on a station platform in Tin Shui Wai.
A video, which began to circulate on social media on Thursday, showed the girl seated on a light rail train, appearing to smoke an e-cigarette. When the train stopped at Tin Shui station, she staggered out of the carriage and held onto the railings on the station’s platform for balance.
Police said they received a report at around 7.15pm on Thursday and apprehended the minor at Tin Shui Shopping Centre, where they found a vape and a suspected space oil pod on her. She was arrested on suspicion of possessing dangerous drugs.
Last month, Hong Kong banned space oil – often inhaled through an e-cigarette – by adding its main component, an anaesthetic called etomidate, to the Dangerous Drug Ordinance.
See also: As Hong Kong bans ‘space oil’ drug, social workers urge care for teen mental health
Social workers say space oil has risen in popularity among the city’s youth and is more affordable, convenient and palatable than other drugs.
According to local media, the girl was a Form Two student who had bought space oil online one day before the incident.
3 teens arrested
On Wednesday, police arrested three teenagers – a 16-year-old male, a 16-year-old female, and an 18-year-old male – after a video of them appearing to have sex in the car park of a public housing estate in Tin Shui Wai went viral. They were arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency.
Police found space oil cartridges in the homes of the 16-year-old boy and the 18-year-old. The two were arrested on suspicion of possessing dangerous drugs. Officers also found two extendable police batons at the home of the 16-year-old boy and arrested him on suspicion of possessing illegal weapons.
According to the Narcotics Division’s announcement on Friday, the total number of drug users recorded last year fell by 9 per cent overall, but the number of users aged 21 and younger rose by 8 per cent, reaching 720.
Among those aged 21 and under, almost one-third of them had smoked space oil.
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