ROYAL
HONG
KONG
POLICE
IN CONFIDENCE
Introduction
ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE
NARCOTICS BUREAU BULLETIN
1ST HALF 1977
In general, the situation prevailing in Hong Kong has remained relatively static. That is, there are drugs on the market, but supplies are not plentiful. At street level, the sellers are adopting much greater security measures and will, in the main, sell only to known customers. This situation has come about mainly through a combination of developments in Hong Kong's supply areas and the cumulative effect of enforcement action in Hong Kong over the last several years.
2. The trawler traffic from Thailand to Hong Kong, drastically curtailed since late 1974, shows no signs of picking up again. Anti-syndicate operations in Hong Kong have resulted in a continuing migration of local chemists to Thailand, where they have resumed their activities in conjunction with a number of Thai heroin chemists. The net result has been the increasing importation of Thai- manufactured heroin, of varying degrees of purity, into Hong Kong.
3. There is increasing evidence to suggest Hong Kong now plays a diminishing role in the export of narcotics. Effective law enforcement action coupled with a dramatic rise in the price of drugs, have continued to discourage overseas traffickers from seeking supplies in Hong Kong.
4.
The Government's Methadone Programmes have continued with a favourable response. At the end of June, 1977, registration at the Detoxification centres stood at 9,337. At the same time the registration at Maintenance centres was 9,874.
Import
5.
No large scale imports are believed to have entered Hong Kong during the period under review. The Golden Triangle remains the primary supplier of Hong Kong's opiate drugs-opium, morphine and heroin. The trawler traffic from Thailand to Hong Kong, drastically curtailed since late 1974, has not re-appeared this year. The current trend of traffickers is to use small groups of seamen and air passengers to import small quantities of narcotics in luggage or body packs. Consignments have also been detected in otherwise legitimate air freight and other cargo. Recently, there have been indications that drugs are being imported through the mail in small quantities.
6.
The most significant seizures in terms of scale have been in respect of acetic anhydride. Three large consignments have been detected; one aboard a Taiwanese fishing trawler, while a second was discovered on board the M.V. 'Tai Po Shek', which had arrived in Hong Kong from Singapore.
7.
An interesting feature which has continued has been the diversification in the types of drug imported into Hong Kong. In the past, imports were, by and large, limited to raw opium and morphine. Since last year, there has been a significant incidence of imports of prepared opium and heroin. A number of factors have brought about this change, the most important being that these drugs need no further refining or preparation once they reach Hong Kong, and the risk of detection at this stage is removed. Thai-manufactured heroin was at one time not favoured by local addicts, who claimed that the drug had a bitter taste and was unpleasant to consume. However, the migration of a number of former Hong Kong heroin chemists to Thailand and the adoption of revised manufacturing techniques in the producing country has overcome this problem, and high grade imported No. 3 heroin has featured increasingly in seizures.
1
IN CONFIDENCE