XN000022-1983-12-07 — Page 28

+

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1983

26

SEIZED NARCOTICS BURNED

***

ABOUT 446.5 KILOGRAMS OF DRUGS, WORTH ABOUT $26.7 MILLION AT STREET PRICES, WERE DESTROYED IN THE KENNEDY TOWN INCINERATION PLANT TODAY (WEDNESDAY) AT A CEREMONY HELD AS PART OF THE ANTI-NARCOTICS CAMPAIGN.

THE DRUGS HAD BEEN SEIZED BY THE POLICE AND CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS AND LATER RELEASED BY THE COURTS FOR DESTRUCTION,

SPEAKING AT THE CEREMONY, SIR ALBERT RODRIGUES, CHAIRMAN OF THE ACTION COMMITTEE AGAINST NARCOTICS EXPLAINED THAT SUCH BURNINGS WERE REGULARLY CARRIED OUT UNDER STRICT SECURITY, AND IN PRIVATE.

TODAY'S PUBLIC BURNING SERVED TWO PURPOSES. TO IMPRESS ON THE COMMUNITY THE MENACE OF DRUG TRAFFICKING AND ABUSE, ESPECIALLY TO THE YOUNGER MEMBERS AND TO THANK AND SHOW CONFIDENCE IN THE POLICE FORCE AND THE CUSTOMS AND EXCISE SERVICE,

SIR ALBERT SAID THAT, WITHOUT THE VIGILANCE OF THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, THE NARCOTICS THAT WERE BURNED WOULD HAVE GONE INTO THE VEINS OF THOSE ON THE LOWEST RUNGS OF SOCIETY, WHO FORMED THE BULK OF HONG KONG'S ADDICTS.

HE PRAISED THE TWO SERVICES FOR THEIR SUCCESS IN THE ANTI-DRUG FIGHT AND SAID THEY WORKED UNDER GREAT DIFFICULTIES IN HONG KONG'S FREE PORT AND EXCHANGE SYSTEMS.

SIR ALBERT SPOKE OF THE +ENORMOUS PROBLEM OF LOOKING

FOR DRUGS IN THE 28 MILLION TONS OF CARGO ARRIVING EVERY YEAR AND AMONG THE EIGHT MILLION INCOMING PASSENGERS, REPRESENTING 97 000 SHIP AND AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS.

+YET AGAINST THESE ODDS, +OUR TWO SERVICES HAVE ACHIEVED SUCCESSES WHICH, OVER THE YEARS, HAVE EARNED FOR THEM AN INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION FOR OUTSTANDING EXPERTISE, COMPETENCE AND DEDICATION, HE SAID.

DESPITE THESE ENCOURAGING ACHIEVEMENTS, HOWEVER, HONG KONG WAS NOW FACING YET ANOTHER CHALLENGE, HE WARNED.

+FOLLOWING THREE SUCCESSIVE BUMPER OPIUM CROPS IN

THE 'GOLDEN TRIANGLE+ SINCE 1981, AND THE LOSS OF MUCH OF THEIR FORMER LUCRATIVE MARKETS IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA TO HEROIN FROM SOUTHWEST ASIA, DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA ARE MARKETING THEIR EVIL PRODUCTS MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVELY IN THIS REGION, IN AUSTRALASIA AND IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.

SIR ALBERT POINTED OUT THAT THE POLICE AND THE CUSTOMS SEIZED MORE DRUGS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR THAN IN THE WHOLE OF 1982.

+DESPITE THIS SUCCESS, THERE IS NOW A GREATER AVAILABILITY OF DRUGS ON THE STREETS, AND PRICES ARE AT A VERY LOW LEVEL,✦ HE SAID.

/+AGAINST THIS