TNAG-0415-FCO40-461-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 69

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ments were "rubbish" and either made out of ignorance or by indi- viduals seeking political gain. To say they were emphatic would be an understatement.

When the Communists came into power in 1949 in China, they imposed the death penalty on anyone producing or consuming opiates. Users were sentenced to long terms, which included building a road toward Siberia. This was. in effect, a death penalty. Their success and continuing interest in purging addiction from their society has re- moved China as a major source of narcotics.

Transshipment from Thailand

Approximately 5 to 6 days after the trawler departs Thailand. a representative of the syndicate departs Bangkok for Hong Kong. He meets with the buyers and arrangements are made to meet the trawler. The Bangkok representative knows the approximate date and loca- tion where the rendezvous is to take place. On the appointed date, the Bangkok representative, known as a controller, departs Hong Kong harbor via small launch and is taken to a waiting junk where he meets with the receiver. The junk then proceeds to the rendezvous area. The junk has either a radio receiver or walkie-talkie radio on board tuned to the same frequency as the transmitter on the trawler. At pre- arranged intervals of time, the trawler transmits Thai music from a cassette recorder or local music received by a portable radio on board.

The Chinese junk receiving the signal knows that the trawler is within a 3 to 5-mile area and eventually a meeting is made. Voice transmisions are rarely made. Once the trawler is in sight, further identification from the junk is made by flying a prearranged flag or by light signals.

The junk has a crew of 7 to 10 men and unloading the trawler re- quires only minutes. Usually, only one junk is employed. Even though it is capable of receiving all the cargo from the trawler, only about one-third load is taken at one time. This precaution is taken in the event that if Hong Kong authorities make a seizure, the entire load will not be lost. The full unloading operation usually takes 1 day. Trawlers have been known to wait from 2 to 7 days for a meeting with the junk. Their time on station is limited by consumables.

A trawler will drop its cargo overboard only if the captain feels that further delay will jeopardize his return trip. The bags of opium are then weighted and connected by net or rope. If this situation arises, the controller on board the trawler will fly to Hong Kong to meet the receiver after the trawler returns to Thailand. He will then accompany the receiver on a junk to the area where the cargo was dropped. The junk drags a grappling hook in the area until the con- necting line is snagged. It is reported that raw opium can be sub- merged in sea water for over a month with no apparent damage. If smoking opium is also among the cargo, however, it must be recooked before sale. Since the trawler does not carry lifeboats or rafts, secreting the drug cargo on an island is somewhat difficult, but this, too, has reportedly been done in the past.

Transshipment from Hong Kong

Once the opium or morphine base has been received in Hong Kong, it is refined into heroin at one of the approximately 50 refineries operating on the fringes of Hong Kong and Kowloon. The labs can.

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