CONFIDENTIAL
HONG KONG: NARCOTICS
1. It has been estimated that there are between eighty
thousand and one hundred thousand addicts in Hong Kong.
The turnover of the business of opium and its derivatives
in Hong Kong is estimated to be about HK $ 1 million
(nearly £100,000) a day. In 1972 the Hong Kong Government
appointed a Commissioner for Narcotics to deal with the
problem. The US Government, the Hong Kong Government
and ourselves are jointly and individually examining
various ways of taking action in the international field
against the illicit traffic in drugs to Hong Kong from
the "Golden Triangle" area (the border area between Burma,
Thailand and Laos). Over the last year there has been
considerable success in interdicting the illegal traffic
in narcotics from this area. A Hong Kong officer was
seconded to the British Embassy at Bangkok in November
1973 to liaise with the Thai Government on narcotic
matters. A UN Ad Hoc Committee has recently visited the
Far East. The purpose of their visit was to examine
ways of fostering regional co-operation against illicit
traffic in narcotics.
2.
Recommendations by the Narcotics Commissioner for
new measures to intensify the drive against drug addiction
CONFIDENTIAL
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