XN000022-1982-02-16 — Page 4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1982

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NARCOTICS SEIZURES UP 25 PER CENT

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VIGILANCE BY HONG KONG'S ANTI-NARCOTICS LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS RESULTED IN A 25 PER CENT INCREASE IN NARCOTICS SEIZURES LAST YEAR. THE HEAD OF THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE'S INVESTIGATION BUREAU, MR K.S. TONG SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).

ADDRESSING THE CITY LIONS' CLUB LUNCHEON MEETING, MR TONG REVIEWED ASPECTS OF THE DRUG TRAFFICKING SCENE IN HONG KONG DURING 1981.

THE BUMPER HARVEST IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE HAD BROUGHT DOWN THE PRICE OF NARCOTICS AND CAUSED THE TRAFFICKERS TO WORK OUT NEW SMUGGLING TACTICS, HE SAID.

MR TONG SAID THAT NO. 4 HEROIN, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN DISCOVERED IN MANY YEARS, HAD ONCE AGAIN FOUND ITS WAY INTO HONG KONG.

+LAST YEAR'S FIND OF A HUGE QUANTITY WAS THE FIRST SINCE 1973, WHEN THE SERVICE SMASHED A LARGE NO. 4 HEROIN MANUFACTURING CENTRE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.

+TRAFFICKERS HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO BE USING DIVERSIFIED-ROUTE METHODS TO SMUGGLE NARCOTICS INTO HONG KONG VIA THE PHILIPPINES, TAIWAN AND MACAU, AND SOME OTHER NEIGHBOURING AREAS AS TRANSIT PORTS, HE SAID.

SMUGGLING OF FAKE OPIUM FROM CHINA WAS DISCOVERED LAST YEAR TWO CASES IN HONG KONG AND ONE IN MACAU, MR TONG EXPLAINED THAT FAKE OPIUM WAS MANUFACTURED FROM HERBS, AND ITS COLOUR AND ODOUR WERE SIMILAR TO REAL OPIUM.

+FOR MANY YEARS, HONG KONG HAS BEEN A PLACE WHICH DID NOT HAVE DRUG EXPORTS. HOWEVER, THE BIG SEIZURES LAST YEAR AT THE AIRPORT FROM TWO EUROPE-BOUND PASSENGERS, HAS ONCE AGAIN PUT HONG KONG INTO DISREPUTE, HE SAID.

IN THE FIRST CASE, THE POLICE NARCOTICS BUREAU SEIZED 1.5 KILOGRAMS OF NO. 3 HEROIN IN THREE SALTED-FISH BELONGING TO A FEMALE PASSENGER. IN AUGUST, CUSTOMS SEIZED 1.53 KILOGRAMS OF NO. 3 HEROIN FROM THE LUGGAGE OF A PASSENGER WHO WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR AMSTERDAM.

+THESE WERE ONLY ISOLATED INCIDENTS. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT ORGANISED SYNDICATES HAVE ONCE AGAIN BEEN ESTABLISHED IN HONG KONG TO CARRY OUT DRUG-EXPORT ACTIVITIES, HE EMPHASISED.

THE PRICE OF NARCOTICS IN HONG KONG, MR TONG SAID, WAS DETERMINED BY SUPPLY AND THE PRICE AT THE SUPPLYING SOURCES.

AT THE