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LARGELY BY TRAWLER, TO HONG KONG FOR WORLDWIDE DISTRI- BUT ION.
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NOW THE RAW OPIUM IS REFINED IN SECRET LABORATORIES NEAR THE BURMESE BORDER IN THE MOUNTAINOUS JUNGLE AREAS OF THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE. THESE LABS ARE HIDDEN IN INACCESSABLE REGIONS, AND ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE BURMESE BORDER THAT WHEN TAI NARCOTICS OFFICIALS DISCOVER A LAB, THE OPERATORS ARE ABLE TO RETREAT INTO THE SANCTUARIES IN BURMA. TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE LABS, YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT RAW OPIUM LOSES 90 PERCENT OF ITS BULK SIZE WHEN IT IS REFINED INTO HEROIN. THIS INCREASES THE DIFFICULTY OF INTERCEPTING THE DRUG MANY TIMES OVER, AND, HENCE, THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTAINING THE POPPIES WHILE THEY ARE IN THE FIELDS. NO LONGER CAN WE INTERCEPT THE HUGE MULE CARAVANS WHICH CARRIED TREMENDOUS QUANTITIES OF THE: OPIUM. NOW, THE REFINED HEROIN IS CARRIED BY INDIVIDUALS WITH BODY PACKS DOWN FROM THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, AND EVENTUALLY MAKES ITS WAY BY AIR, SEA, AND COURIER TO HONG KONG AND MALAYSIA; BUT IN THE FORM OF NUMBER THREE OR NUMBER FOUR HEROIN, AND NOT RAW OPIUM. THE HONG KONG AUTHORITIES ARE COOPER- ATING, BUT THEY HAVE ALMOST AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK WHEN ONE RECOGNIZES THE AMOUNT OF CARGO AND THE NUMBER OF PAS NGERS WHO PASS THROUGH HONG KONG EACH YEAR. HONG KONG, AND OTHER PORTS IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD, THE HEROIN MAKES ITS WAY TO THE WESTERN MARKET. TWO MAJOR STOPPING POINTS FOR THE HEROIN ARE HOLLAND AND MEXICO. BOTH OF THESE NATIONS CREATE MAJOR PROBLEMS FOR THE UNITED STATES. THE AVAILABILITY OF HIGH-GRADE. 1.0W-COST HEROIN IN AMSTERDAM IS CAUSING A DRUG PROBLEM FOR OUR TROOPS STATIONED IN WESTERN EUROPE, JUST AS THE CHEAP SUPPLY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA FUNNELED DOWN TO OUR TROOPS IN VIETNAM, AND DECREASED THEIR FIGHTING CAPABILITIES. CONCERNING MEXICO, IT CAN BE ESTABLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT SOME OF THE BROWN HEROIN WHICH COMES INTO THIS COUNTRY FROM MEXICO IS
ALL IN ALL, ACTUALLY HEROIN REFINED FROM ASIAN POPPIES.
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THE NEW DISTRIBUTION ROUTES FROM THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE ARE MAKING THE OLD TURKEY TO MARSEILLES ROUTE SEEM LIKE A COWPATH.
4. THE MAJOR OBSTACLE STANDING IN THE WAY OF CONTROLLING THIS MAJOR ASSUALT ON OUR WAR ON DRUGS IS THE POPPY FIELDS IN BURMA. WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THE BURMESE GOVERNMENT IS NOT IN-CONTROL OF ALL TE TERRITORY WITHIN THEIR FORMAL BORDERS. THE SHANS CONTROL ROUGHLY 30 FERCENT OF THE LAND, AND IT IS THIS MOUNTAINOUS, JUNGLE AREA WHERE TE POPPIES ARE GROWN.
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