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Public Order
Commercial Crime
To help maintain a safe and stable business environment in Hong Kong, the Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) continued to investigate syndicated and serious commercial frauds, technology crimes and counterfeiting of monetary instruments. In 2012, CCB took stringent enforcement actions against nine serious investment frauds involving culprits enticing members of the public into sham investment schemes, resulting in the arrest of 16 culprits.
A noticeable decrease of 23 cases, or 22.5 per cent, was recorded in street deception in 2012 when compared with 2011. CCB successfully applied for enhancement of sentence against the arrested culprits. The number of counterfeit Hong Kong banknotes seized remained stable, while 9,669 counterfeit payment cards were seized in intelligence-led operations, twice the number seized in 2011.
Technology Crime
In 2012, there were 3,015 cases of technology crime, representing an increase of 36.7 per cent when compared with 2011. To combat this crime, CCB professionally investigated all reports of technology crimes, enhanced co-operation and intelligence exchange with other law enforcement agencies and adopted a multi-agency approach to promote public awareness of cyber security.
To effectively monitor and protect critical infrastructure against cyber attacks, the police established a Cyber Security Centre (CSC) under the Technology Crime Division of CCB in 2012. The CSC worked closely with relevant government departments and other stakeholders to provide enhanced and integrated readiness for the territory's cyber security.
Dangerous Drugs
Tackling youth drug abuse continued to be a police priority in 2012. The police strengthened its role in preventive education and anti-drug publicity. Intelligence-led operations against drug. traffickers, particularly those that exploit minors and juveniles, intensified. During the year, one drug trafficker had his sentence increased by the court for employing young persons to traffic drugs.
The majority of arrests were in respect of ketamine. In 2012, the police seized 254.2 kilograms of ketamine (including three large seizures at wholesale level as a direct result of a series of successful intelligence-led operations), a substantial increase on 2011. There was also a large increase in seizures of cannabis and methamphetamine (ice) by the police in 2012 when compared with 2011.
The majority of drugs manufacturing cases detected in 2012 involved the conversion of cocaine powder into what is commonly known as 'crack. Eight premises engaged in this illicit business were shut down.
The police's Narcotics Bureau (NB) continued to collaborate with its Mainland and overseas counterparts to tackle cross-boundary and trans-national trafficking, leading to the seizure of 974.8 kilograms of illicit drugs plus 24.7 tonnes of precursor chemicals and the dismantling of
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