Global cooperation appears the best strategy to counter a surge in the trafficking of illegal drugs across the Asia-Pacific region, including Hong Kong. The city’s Customs and Excise Department deserves credit for proposing a major joint operation with its counterparts around the world to fight the smuggling of cocaine and crystal meth. The move was made during an international conference hosted by the department last month. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told delegates leading drug cartels had turned to increasingly sophisticated methods to sidestep travel restrictions during the pandemic. Rather than depending on travellers to smuggle drugs, syndicates were using sea and air consignments to ship even larger quantities. In Hong Kong alone, authorities seized around 66,000kg of drugs in about 4,000 cases last year. While the number of incidents in 2022 only increased 5 per cent compared with 2020, the overall quantity of confiscated drugs surged twelvefold. One notable case in October involved the seizure of a record-breaking 1.8 tonnes of meth disguised as coconut water. The sea shipment from Mexico to Australia could have sold on the streets for HK$8 billion (US$1.02 billion). While it is understandable that challenges presented by the pandemic have been a distraction for law enforcement, such cases illustrate that international syndicates have not wasted any time trying to get ahead and find new markets and ways to reach them. Hong Kong has long had strong links with drug-related law enforcement agencies overseas as well as on the mainland, and it is time to restore those connections. Customs commissioner Louise Ho Pui-shan said international intelligence and real-time knowledge-sharing had only become more important as the world moved into a post-pandemic phase. That call was underscored by Wang Lingjun, vice-minister of China’s General Administration of Customs, who opened the session by appealing for countries to become better informed and equipped. Ho called for “a global partnership” and a joint operation involving agencies from about 40 countries and territories later this year. It is hoped that as many as possible will take up her invitation.