MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1982
CALL FOR GREATER EFFORT AGAINST NARCOTICS
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THE CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS, SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES TODAY (MONDAY) CALLED FOR INTENSIFIED ANTI-NARCOTICS EFFORTS IN ALL FIELDS - LAW ENFORCEMENT, TREATMENT, PREVENTION AND INTERNATIONAL ACTION.
SIR ALBERT SAID THAT FOLLOWING TWO SUCCESSIVE BUMPER OPIUM CROPS IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE+ IN 1981 AND THIS YEAR, AND THE LOSS OF MUCH OF THEIR FORMER LUCRATIVE MARKETS IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA TO HEROIN FROM SOUTH-WEST ASIA, DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA WERE +MARKETING THEIR EVIL PRODUCTS MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVELY IN THIS REGION, IN AUSTRALIA AND IN HONG KONG,+
SIR ALBERT WAS SPEAKING AT A CEREMONY THIS AFTERNOON DURING WHICH ABOUT $50 MILLION WORTH OF NARCOTIC DRUGS SEIZED BY THE POLICE AND THE CUSTOMS SERVICES WERE DESTROYED AT THE KENNEDY TOWN INCINERATOR,
AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS AGGRESSIVE MARKETING, SIR ALBERT SAID, +OUR POLICE AND CUSTOMS SEIZED MORE DRUGS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR THAN IN THE WHOLE OF 1981.+
+DESPITE THESE SUCCESSES, THERE IS NOW A GREATER AVAILABILITY OF DRUGS ON THE STREETS, AND PRICES HAVE DROPPED TO THEIR LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1976, + HE ADDED.
AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND, THE DECLINING TREND IN DRUG ADDICTION SINCE 1974 WAS REVERSED IN 1981 AND THE SITUATION WAS A CAUSE FOR CONCERN, HE SAID.
SIR ALBERT APPEALED TO THE PUBLIC TO REPORT TO THE POLICE AND THE CUSTOMS SERVICES ANY SUSPICIONS THEY MIGHT HAVE, OR ACTIVITIES WHICH MIGHT COME TO THEIR NOTICE, IN RELATION TO THE IMPORT, MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGS.
+OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES CAN DO WITH, AND DESERVE,
ALL THE HELP WE CAN GIVE, HE SAID.
DURING THE CEREMONY, SOME 80 000 RECORDS HELD BY THE CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DRUG ABUSE, WHICH CONTAINED THE PERSONAL PARTICULARS OF ADDICTS CONTACTED BY VARIOUS AGENCIES FROM 1972 TO 1976, WERE ALSO DESTROYED.
GUESTS WITNESSING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE DRUGS AND THE RECORDS INCLUDED THE UNOFFICIAL LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLOR, MISS MARIA TAM; THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE AID AND REHABILITATION OF DRUG ABUSERS, SISTER AQUINAS; THE DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES, DR K.L. THONG; THE ACTING COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, MR PETER MOOR THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS AND EXCISE, MR DOUGLAS JORDAN, AND THE COMMISSIONER FOR NARCOTICS, MR PETER LEE.
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