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fuel by road vehicles. Enforcement actions were mounted at sea and land boundaries from time to time to prevent the smuggling of illicit fuel.
The number of black spots for illicit fuel activities was contained at around 27 as a result of the department's vigorous enforcement action. The department closed 1 085 illicit oil filling stations, 22 marked oil detreating plants and one synthetic petrol plant. A total of 950 people were arrested. Altogether, 1.17 million litres of various types of illicit fuel, valued at $11.61 million, were seized, a decrease of 31 per cent and 13 per cent respectively compared with 2004. The decline in the quantities of illicit fuel seized was attributed to the department's effectiveness in combating illicit fuel activities.
Anti-narcotics Operations
The department continued to take vigorous enforcement action to prevent and suppress the unlawful manufacture, distribution and trafficking of dangerous drugs; trace, confiscate and recover proceeds from illegal drug activities; and prevent the diversion of chemicals for illicit manufacture of dangerous drugs and psychotropic substances.
The Customs Drug Investigation Bureau is a dedicated team of the department which combats drug trafficking activities. It exchanges intelligence and cooperates closely with the Hong Kong Police and various relevant law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions in the fight against drug traffickers both locally and at the international level.
In 2005, the department dealt with 103 drug trafficking cases, neutralised four drug attenuating and manufacturing centres and 13 drug distribution centres. It seized 16.3. kilograms of heroin, 242.1 kilograms of ketamine, 102.4 kilograms of cannabis, 4.2 kilograms of cocaine, 19 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1 808 tablets of MDMA ('ecstasy') and 27 718 tablets of other psychotropic drugs. A total of 624 people were arrested for drug-related offences. Through cooperation with Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies, a total of 220.4 kilograms and 3.6 litres of various drugs were seized and 47 people arrested.
Boundary Control
There were 14.88 million vehicular traffic movements through the three land boundary control points at Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok in 2005, an increase of 2.8 per cent over the previous year.
Four kiosks for processing southbound private cars were set up at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point in September in addition to the four for northbound traffic which were introduced in 2004. The additional kiosks have reduced the processing time of private cars by providing a one-stop service for immigration and customs clearance.
In March, the department installed LED display boards at customs kiosks at the Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok control points to give truck drivers visual rather than verbal instructions about inspections. As a result, the average clearance time for each vehicle has been reduced by about one to three seconds.
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