Seizures of Ecstasy shot up more than 1,250 per cent from January to May compared with a year earlier, while seizures of another illegal party drug, ketamine, dropped more than 90 per cent.
Police and customs officers seized nearly 41,000 Ecstasy pills, up from barely 3,000, but only 34kg of ketamine, compared with 380kg in the first five months of last year.
Officials attributed the phenomenon in part to illegal-drug takers switching from taking ketamine to using Ecstasy.
Seizures of methamphetamine, or Ice, rose even more, by 2,250 per cent, but from a low base of just 2kg in January to May last year.
Security chief Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong said authorities were concerned about the worrying level of drug abuse by young people.
Mr Lee said there was no evidence either drug was being manufactured in Hong Kong. 'Police and the customs department will step up enforcement action to try to prevent imports of these drugs. The police will step up enforcement action in vice spots to discourage people from taking drugs,' he said.
