TNAG-0416-FCO40-462-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 158

Mr Stuart

CONFIDENTIAL

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HONG KONG: NARCOTICS

1.

You asked me to discuss with the MOD and with SEAD the possibility of the Royal Navy and/or the RAF shadow- ing Thai trawlers suspected of carrying illicit drugs between Thailand and Hong Kong and also the question of intervention on the high seas (with the concurrence of the Thai Government).

2. I have spoken to Mr Edmonds of DS5 (Navy) and a Mr Mahenony DS8 (Air) in the MOD to get their preliminary reactions to these suggestions. With regard to the possibility of surveillance by the Navy, Mr Edmonds said that there were usually between 7 and 12 ships east of the Cape but that these ships were normally fully tasked and he thought there were only a limited chance of them being used on an exercise of this nature. Both the Navy and the Royal Air Force were more or less fully occupied in maintaining surveillance of the Chinese and the Russians but even this surveillance could not be continuous because of the limited resources available. Mr Edmonds thought that a smaller type of vessel would be suitable for this type of work, for instance the 'ton class' vessel. However, although there are 5 of these 'ton class' vessels in Hong Kong, they are more or less fully occupied in patrolling Hong Kong waters to prevent illegal immigration, smuggling, etc. This is in fact the type of work for which they are best suited and they probably do not have the necessary speed or equipment for tracking the Thai trawlers. Mr Edmonds said that although the chances of the Navy being able to help were small, he would be willing to consider the question in more depth if we so wished.

3. Mr Mahenony said that the sort of surveillance we had in mind would almost certainly entail the use of Nimrod aircraft. There are Nimrods based at Singapore which might conceivably be used, but it would be a formidable and expensive exercise to shadow the trawlers from Thailand to Hong Kong and could obviously not be done on a regular basis.

4. On the question of intervention by the Royal Navy on the high seas, Mr Edmonds said that as far as he was aware, there were only one or two occasions on which a ship of HM Navy might "engage" a ship of another nation. For instance if a ship was suspected of a flag offence, ie illégally flying the British flag; also if a ship was

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CONFIDENTIAL