Hong Kong Customs Seizes 12kg of Cannabis and Cigarettes at Airport; Passenger Arrested

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected cannabis buds and duty-not-paid cigarettes at airport

Hong Kong Customs detected a drug trafficking case involving an incoming passenger at Hong Kong International Airport today (December 28) and seized about 12 kilograms of suspected cannabis buds with an estimated market value of about $2.5 million. 100 sticks of duty-not-paid cigarettes were also seized from the carry-on baggage of the passenger.

A male passenger, aged 31, arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, today. During Customs clearance, Customs officers found a total of about 12kg of suspected cannabis buds in 20 vacuum-sealed plastic bags in his check-in suitcase and 100 sticks of duty-not-paid cigarette inside his carry-on baggage. The man was subsequently arrested.

The arrested man has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug, one count of possessing duty-not-paid cigarettes and one count of failing to declare them to Customs officers. The case will bebrought up at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (December 29).

Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.

Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Customs seizes suspected cannabis buds and duty-not-paid cigarettes at airport Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Annual update of aggregate list of eligible universities under TTPS

The Government announced today (December 28) that the annually updated aggregate list of eligible universities under the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) will take effect on January 1, 2026.

The TTPS aims to attract talent in the following three categories:

Category A: persons with annual income reaching HK$2.5 million or above in the year immediately preceding the date of application;

Category B: full-time bachelor's degree graduates of the universities/institutions prescribed in the aggregate list (eligible universities/institutions) with at least three years of work experience over the past five years immediately preceding the date of application; or

Category C: full-time bachelor's degree graduates of eligible universities/institutions in the past five years immediately preceding the date of application with less than three years of work experience.

At present, the aggregate list comprises the top 100 universities/institutions in four world university rankings (namely the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, the U.S. News and World Report's Best Global Universities Rankings and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities) in the past five years; the top five universities/institutions providing specialised hotel programmes on the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of "hospitality and leisure management" in the past five years; the top five specialised institutions on the QS World University Rankings in the discipline of "Art and Design" in the past five years; and the top 20 ranked Mainland universities under the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Best Chinese Universities Ranking in the past five years.

The number of eligible universities/institutions in the updated aggregate list (see Annex)will increase from 199 to 200, reflecting the changes to the relevant university rankings.

The updated list will be uploaded onto the online platform of Hong Kong Talent Engage (www.hkengage.gov.hk) and the TTPS webpage of the Immigration Department (www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/visas/TTPS.html) on January 1, 2026.