15th March 1978
believed to be involved in corruption cases where there are good reasons why the grounds should not be put to the officer, provided that we supply you with convincing evidence of the officer's guilt.
I have examined the cases against each of the 180 identified serving Police Officers and 5 identified serving Customs & Excise officers and I am satisfied that it is not possible to proceed against them under CR 59.
I am equally satisfied that the allegations made against them are well-founded and that their services should be terminated. I should be grateful, therefore, if the pleasure of the Crown could be signified through the Secretary of State under CR 55 that these officers should no longer hold office.
As noted above, the main witnesses in almost all the cases are CHAN Man-chui and MA Ting-kit. These persons are convicted criminals who could be expected to bear a grudge against Police Officers who had hindered the activities of the syndicate. Nevertheless, as one reads the case files, the stories told by these and other witnesses grow in credibility and the high degree of corroboration in such a large number of cases could not be the result either of accident or collusion. Moreover, it is supported by the statements of those who have themselves admitted corruption and by certain admissions of a large number of suspects. MA in particular has an almost incredible memory for detail, much of which is corroborated by CHAN or other witnesses or by the suspects them selves.
There is no doubt that the case against some individuals is not
strong.
There is equally no doubt in my mind, after reading all the case files, that a very large number of Police Officers, either in groups or as individuals, were determined to obtain their share of the illicit earnings of the drug stall. I consider that, if the witnesses are considered credible, then all the officers they have named must be considered guilty and unworthy of the trust that has been placed in them as Police Officers, not only those in whose cases there is corroborated evidence.
The serving officers against whom allegations have been made fall into a number of groups, although some operated as individuals and some are included in a number of groups. A list of these groups is attached and I am submitting under separate cover with this letter the case files of the first 4 groups covering 46 serving Police Officers and 2 serving Customs and Excise officers. These groups are those who had the highest degree of responsibility for the suppression of illicit drug trafficking in Yau Ma Tei and who, generally speaking, collected the largest amounts of protection money. It is from amongst these groups that the serving officers to be prosecuted will be chosen.
The case files of all the other groups will follow by the next bag
SECRET
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