XN000022-1982-09-07 — Page 3

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1982

BUT THINGS WERE CHANGING IN HONG KONG, HE NOTED.

THE CUSTOMS SERVICE BY A TOP LEVEL POLICY DECISION WAS GIVEN FULL RANGING RESPONSIBILITIES EQUIVALENT TO THOSE OF THE POLICE, AND THE POLICE THEMSELVES SMASHED MAJOR SYNDICATES IN 1973/74 INVOLVED IN THE THAI TRAWLER TRAFFIC.

ACETIC ACID USED IN THE CONVERSION OF MORPHINE TO HEROIN LARGELY IN HONG KONG BECAME CONTROLLED AND THE ORGANISATION OF HONG KONG'S HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMME AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR REHABILITATION OF DRUG ADDICTS WAS GREATLY IMPROVED AND EXPANDED.

THE THAI AUTHORITIES DEVELOPED A NEW POLICY OF INCREASED INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN FIGHTING THE MENACE WHICH GREATLY HELPED HONG KONG, HE SAID.

HOWEVER, IT DID NOT TAKE LONG BEFORE TRAFFICKERS IN THAILAND CHANGED THE IR MANUFACTURING PROCESSES TO PRODUCE ANOTHER INTERMEDIATE - HEROIN BASE, MR JORDAN SAID.

HEROIN BASE, RATHER THAN MORPHINE, WAS EXPORTED, AND THE CONVERSION OF THE BASE TO HEROIN IS A SIMPLE PROCESS BY USE OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID AND OTHER SMALL QUANTITIES OF READILY AVAILABLE MATERIALS, MR JORDAN EXPLAINED.

THE CONTROL HONG KONG HAD PLACED ON ACETIC ACID WAS OF NO AVAIL.

HEROIN BASE CONVERTS TO THREE TIMES ITS WEIGHT AS HEROIN AND THE PROCESS CAN BE CARRIED OUT IN A SMALL LABORATORY, HE POINTED OUT.

AN ILLUSTRATION OF HOW THE NEW METHODS CHANGED THE SCENE IS INDICATED BY A COMPARISON OF AGGREGATE SEIZURES OF HEROIN AND MORPHINE OVER A PERIOD.

+ IN 1977 CUSTOMS SEIZED 98.1 KG OF MORPHINE, IN 1980 ONLY TWO KILOS AND IN 1981 ONLY A FEW GRAMS. BY CONTRAST IN 1977 WE SEIZED 15 KILOS OF HEROIN BASE AND IN 1981, 84 KILOS,+ MR JORDAN SAID.

TO THESE FIGURES MUST BE ADDED SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITIES OF HEROIN MANUFACTURED ENTIRELY IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE AND SMUGGLED

INTO HONG KONG.

+BUT HEROIN BASE IS THE THING OF THE MOMENT, HE STRESSED.

50 000,

WE

+HONG KONG'S SUCCESS IN ANTI-NARCOTICS WORK HAS INCLUDED BRINGING REGISTERED ADDICT POPULATION DOWN TO 40 000 NO LONGER EXPORT HEROIN AS IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES AND OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT SUCCESSES ARE HELD IN HIGH INTERNATIONAL REGARD,* MR JORDAN SAID.

THIS YEAR,