Teen drug cases up; police anti-drug campaign includes TVB visits

Police say drug-related arrests involving teenagers in the first-half of the year have seen a slight uptick of 4% year-on-year.

30% of the cases involved etomidate and some teens were duped into believing that being underage means fewer legal consequences.

The city logged 1,223 drug-related cases in the first six months of 2026, which dropped around 15% with 1,484 apprehended.

Police say crime groups tend to hide narcotics in items such as cat food and avocado oil which made detection more difficult.

To prevent young people from falling into drug abuse, the police's Narcotics Bureau established the Leadership Institute on Narcotics five years ago to promote anti-drug messages.

Some students from the academy visited TVB headquarters today where former drug addicts exhorted young people to make the right choices and stay away from drugs.