WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1986
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THIS OBSERVATION HAD BEEN MISREPRESENTED, AND THE HONG K GOVERNMENT HAD, THROUGH PRESS STATEMENTS AND INTERVIEWS, DRA.... ATTENTION TO THIS POINT, MR THOMAS SAID.
THE BOARD, HE SAID, HAD NOT ATTEMPTED TO COMPARE HONG KONG'S INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFIC ITH THAT OF OTHER CENTRES IN THE REGION.
+THE FIGURES SHOW THAT IN THE PAST THREE YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN EIGHT PROSECUTIONS IN HONG KONG OF RESIDENTS ATTEMPTING TO SMUGGLE DRUGS OUT OF HONG KONG AND 21 PROSECUTIONS OVERSEAS INVOLVING HONG KONG RESIDENTS IN DRUG TRAFFICKING OFFENCES.
+ALTOGETHER 42 HONG KONG RESIDENTS WERE IMPLICATED AS DRUG COURIERS IN THESE CASES, AND SOME 75 KILOGRAMS OF ILLICIT DRUGS WERE SEIZED, HE SAID.
ON THE BASIS OF THESE FIGURES, IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO REFUTE THE BOARD'S ACTUAL STATEMENT.
BUT IT WAS TRUE THAT THE BOARD'S OBSERVATION HAD BEEN MISREPRESENTED AND THE IMPRESSION HAD BEEN GIVEN THAT HONG KONG WAS A MAJOR DRUG RE-EXPORTING CENTRE.
MR THOMAS SAID THAT, GIVEN HONG KONG'S GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION, THE GOOD AIR AND SEA COMMUNICATIONS, AND THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED AND DEPARTED EACH YEAR, IT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISING IF HONG KONG WERE USED FROM TIME TO TIME TO FACILITATE THE DISTRIBUTION OF DRUGS INTERNATIONALLY.
EFFECTIVE ACTION BY THE POLICE AND CUSTIMS HAD IN RECENT YEARS DONE MUCH TO RESTRICT THE USE OF HONG KONG FOR TRANSHIPMENT.
ILLICIT
THE RISK TO TRAFFICKERS OF DETECTION IN RE-EXPORTING DRUGS FROM HONG KONG WAS THOUGHT TO BE HIGH, MR THOMAS SAID.
+OVER THE YEARS, HONG KONG'S ANTI-NARCOTIC EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MUCH APPRECIATED IN INTERNATIONAL CIRCLES, + MR THOMAS SAID, QUOTING AGAIN THE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS BOARD REPORT THAT THE HONG KONG AUTHORITIES ARE VIGOROUSLY PURSUING ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS AS WELL AS TREATMENT AND PREVENTION ACTIVITIES.+
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