11101119/3
S.C.m.P. I MAY 1973
ROLPH REFUTES, A DRUG REPORT
It was not right to say that the Government was indifferent towards the drug problem, the Commissioner for Narcotics. Mr Norman Rolph. said yesterday.
He was commenting on reports in local newspapers that three United Siates Congressmen had suggested that officials here reluctant to recognise the severity of the drug problem.
connection with drug offences while six tons of opium and 112 lbs of herom were seized.
Anti-drug laws were being implemented with "utmost vigour not only in Hongkong but internationally with the co- operation of other countries, he said.
the
A spokesman for were
Mr Roiph said it was ridiculous to say that local officials were unaware of the problem.
**Indeed. I think the Commissioner of Prisons, Mr Tom Garner, the Senior Superintendent in charge of the Police Narcotics Bureau. Mr George Dunning, and myself know more about the problem than anyone else in the world." he said,
They spend every day, dealing with the problem, he pointed out.
Mr Rolph said much had been done to tackle the problem within the limits of his resources. Last year about 16,000 arrests were made in
American Consulate General said the report did not represent the views of his Government. It was the view of the three Congressmen Mr Louis Frey, Mr Peter Kyros and Mr James Hastings.
He said they had visited Hongkong between January 22 and 25 this year as part of an Asian tour to study the problem of drug trafficking. Their report was #1 Summary of their investigations.
{ } added the U.S. Government had enjoyed the co-operation of Mr Rolph, the Royal Hongkong Police and the Preventive Service.
HIS Government believed that this had contributed to the world-wide effort to curb illegal drug trafficking, the spokesman said.
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