intendent who had already been seconded to the Interpol Headquarters in Paris in 1975. The expertise of these two officers and their detailed knowledge of the drug situation in Hong Kong and the Far East generally has been of considerable value to the General Secretariat of Interpol. Conversely, Hong Kong ad the benefit of swift and accurate feedback of information on drug case, ccuring
in Europe, which were of interest to the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Preventive Service.
12 During the year, the Interpol Narcotics Liasion Officer for Southeast Asia, who is stationed in Bangkok, made a fact-finding tour of the region, including Hong Kong. During his stay in Hong Kong, he had discussions with Government anti-narcotics officials and visited various anti-narcotics establishments.
Quadripartite Conference
13 The annual meeting of high-level anti-narcotics officers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Hong Kong, which began in 1973 as a Tripartite Conference, was expanded to Quadripartite status in 1976 with the participation of Canadian officials. The Conference was held in Hong Kong in July and lasted for three days. As in past years, discussions focused on policy issues and law enforcement, with the object of strengthening even further joint action against international drug traffickers.
Hong Kong/United States Customs Conference
14
Another important gathering which took place in Hong Kong in May was an international customs conference, the first of its kind ever held in this part of the world. The conference, jointly sponsored by the Hong Kong Preventive Service and the United States Customs Service, was attended by 26 senior customs officials from Hong Kong and 14 other countries, namely Australia, Burma, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United States. The principal subject under discussion was the use of modern techniques in detecting drug smuggling. At the end of the week-long conference, delegates endorsed in principle a proposal that a series of regional training courses for law enforcement officers should be organized in the future. In the light of this recommendation, the Hong Kong Preventive Service is now considering a proposal by the United Nations Division of Narcotic Drugs that such a course should be held in Hong Kong in late 1977 at the Service's Tai Lam Chung Training School.
Co-operation in law enforcement at operational level
15 At the operational level, the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Preventive Service continued to maintain close contact with their overseas counterparts. On many occasions, exchange of information resulted in important arrests of drug traffickers and seizures of drug consignments in Hong Kong and in a number of countries overseas. During the year, information supplied by the Narcotics Bureau and the Preventive Service either through the Interpol or directly to overseas anti-drug enforcement agencies concerned led to the arrests of drug couriers, many of them with drug consignments en route to Europe.
Hong Kong as an anti-narcotics training ground
16 The advanced techniques and methods used in anti-narcotics work in Hong Kong have made it an increasingly popular venue for training anti-narcotics
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officials from other countries. Each year, a number of anti-narcotics officers from Southeast Asian and other Asian countries come to Hong Kong for study visits, either through bilateral arrangements with their governments or under the sponso p of the United Nations or the Colombo Plan. In 1976, such officers wereived from countries including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Iran. To these visitors, law enforcement and the various treatment and rehabilitation programmes in Hong Kong were the main sources of interest, but the preventive education and publicity techniques employed in Hong Kong against drug abuse were also beginning to attract increasing attention. The provision of these training facilities further demonstrates the Hong Kong Government's commitment to full co-operation with other governments in the fight against the global problem of narcotics.
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