TNAG-0441-FCO40-506-Visits-of-leading-personalities-of-Hong-Kong-to-UK-1974 — Page 17

CONFIDENTIAL

HONG KONG: NARCOTICS

1. It has been estimated that there are between eighty

thousand and one hundred thousand addicts in Hong Kong.

The turnover of the business of opium and its derivatives

in Hong Kong is estimated to be about HK $ 1 million

(nearly £100,000) a day. In 1972 the Hong Kong Government

appointed a Commissioner for Narcotics to deal with the

problem. The US Government, the Hong Kong Government

and ourselves are jointly and individually examining

various ways of taking action in the international field

against the illicit traffic in drugs to Hong Kong from

the "Golden Triangle" area (the border area between Burma,

Thailand and Laos). Over the last year there has been

considerable success in interdicting the illegal traffic

in narcotics from this area. A Hong Kong officer was

seconded to the British Embassy at Bangkok in November

1973 to liaise with the Thai Government on narcotic

matters. A UN Ad Hoc Committee has recently visited the

Far East. The purpose of their visit was to examine

ways of fostering regional co-operation against illicit

traffic in narcotics.

2.

Recommendations by the Narcotics Commissioner for

new measures to intensify the drive against drug addiction

CONFIDENTIAL

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