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In a section on Hong Kong, the Survey stated that the Crown Colony was not only a major consumer of illicit opiates (an estimated 150.000 users), but also a major transit point. Playing down the Survey, Com- missioner Rolph denied that Hong Kong was a major transit point for drug traffickers, although he admitted that the port is used "to a cer- tain extent." Another Hong Kong Government drug expert, Dr. L. K. Ding, also disputed the Survey's estimate of local drug users by con- tending that the figure should be between 80,000 and 100,000 and no higher.
THE UNITED STATES MISSION
To coordinate the United States antidrug effort in Hong Kong, the United States Consulate has established three groups designed to deal with all aspects of the problem. At the top is an overall mission com- mittee on which everyone tasked with a narcotics assignment is rep- resented. The second group acts as a liaison to the Hong Kong Com- munity with the local chamber of commerce acting as the focal point. The U.S. Consul General started the program when it become evident that young people in the American community were becoming heavily involved in drugs. The third group is the intelligence committee which included representatives from the enforcement and intelligence agencies of the Consulate. This committee will soon be expanded to include representatives from the immigration section, the Defense Liaison, and Customs.
While the Survey Team was told the antidrug effort was one of the Consulate's highest priorities, one official complained that, aside from those associated with enforcement agencies, the other members of the mission do not give the problem proper attention nor are they moti- vated to do so.
The Survey Team was also informed that although Hong Kong is a major consumer, conduit, and financier of narcotics originating in Southeast Asia, U.S. Government activities relating to the Crown Colony are centered in BNDD's Far East region which includes Manila, P.I. (the regional headquarters), Tokyo, Seoul, Japan and Okinawa. Representatives of the United States Narcotics Control Committee told the Survey Team that if Hong Kong were placed in the Southeast Asia region that the overall narcotics suppression effort in that area would be more effective.
In terms of intelligence collection, the United States Mission in Hong Kong admittedly has gotten a late start. As a result, the esti- mates citing local consumption, prices, and local narcotics operatives are dated and misleading. Indicative of the shortcomings of narcotics intelligence in Hong Kong is the fact that no concrete information is available on the heroin "chemists" who originate in the Colony.10 It is widely assumed that Hong Kong is a major source of these technicians who are vital to the heroin trade. Yet, without a solid fix on their movements, they will continue to operate with impunity.
10 These "chemists" are not university-trained but could best be termed "brew-masters" who have learned their trade through apprenticeship.