offences, whilst the Drug Addicts Treatment and Rehabilitation Ordinance (Chapter 326 of the Laws of Hong Kong), provides for the voluntary treatment of addicts in centres run by the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts.
Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance
9
The medical uses of other types of drugs are controlled by the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (Chapter 138 of the Laws of Hong Kong).
Chapter 5
Anti-drug Law Enforcement in Hong Kong
1976 was one of the most challenging years for Hong Kong's anti-drug law enforcement agencies. Detection became more difficult than ever as a result of the fragmentation of the illicit trade caused by the breaking up of virtually all long-established drug syndicates commenced in late 1974 and continued since then. Added to this difficulty was the increasingly strict and expensive security measures that traffickers were obliged to take to protect themselves and their limited supplies. In the event, however, the law enforcement agencies were still able to achieve very remarkable results during the year, seizing large quantities of drugs, making thousands of arrests and, above all, disrupting the illicit trade so seriously that prices were driven to an all-time high.
2
The amount of drugs seized by the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Preven- tive Service was well in excess of that of 1975. Altogether, they seized 3,553 kilogrammes of opium, 291 kilogrammes of morphine and 164 kilogrammes of heroin, with a total retail value of over $270 millions. Compared with the previous year, these seizures represented a 750 per cent increase in opium, 100 per cent increase in morphine and 12 per cent decrease in heroin.
3
By international standards, the total quantity of the drugs seized in 1976 was an outstanding record. It is estimated to be about 20 per cent of the heroin and morphine, and about 60 per cent of the opium which were smuggled into Hong Kong during the whole year. This compares favourably with the average level of ten per cent in many other countries.
4 During the year, the Police and the Preventive Service arrested and prosecuted a record number of 3,486 people for serious drug offences such as trafficking, manufacturing and possession of dangerous drugs for the purpose of trafficking, an increase of 70 per cent compared with 1975. Among the 103 top-level people arrested were 18 syndicate heads and assistant heads, 19 major distributors, 4 major brokers, 16 heroin chemists, 13 drug store-keepers, 29 couriers and 4 independent operators. A table showing the number of prosecutions and the amount of drugs seized over the past 11 years is at Appendix 3.
5 Despite all the successes of recent years, the struggle against drug traffickers will, in all likelihood, continue to be an uphill battle. Given the huge profits involved in the drug trade, there will always be criminals who are eager to fill the places left behind by those who have either been arrested or have fled Hong Kong. In May 1976, for example, the Police seized a consignment of drugs off the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. Follow-up investigation revealed that the consignment, comprising 1,482 kilogrammes of opium and 109 kilogrammes of morphine, was bought in Thailand for $1.5 millions, including the cost of trans- portation and reception in Hong Kong. These drugs would then have changed hands at the wholesale level in Hong Kong for $12 millions. At the street level, it would have brought $98 millions, more than 8 times the wholesale price and 65 times the import price.
6
On the other hand, the vast movement of passengers, cargo and fishing vessels, which is vital to Hong Kong's economic well-being, also makes Hong
14
15