TNAG-0504-FCO40-569-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 223

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Defence Secretariat Division 5

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Main Building Whitehall London SW1A 2HB

C

Telephone 01-930 7022 ext 2190

A L Wotton Esq

Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept

Foreign & Commonwealth Office LONDON SW1

LAST

REF.

NEXT

175 Pe

TEF

Your reference

Our reference

D/DS5/HI

Date

10 January 1974

X

1.

Dear Wotton,

Narcotics: Interception of Thai trawlers on the High Seas

You wrote to Frank Parrish here about this on 9 November and asked for our preliminary reactions to the proposal that the Royal Navy might undertake patrols.

2.

Our first point is to emphasise what you have already stated in para 3 of your letter any action must be legal, and be seen to be legal, without equivocation. Presumably this would mean an international treaty, plus amendment to the domestic law of the UK and Thailand, before anything in the nature of boarding, searching and arrest on the high seas could be considered.

3. We are unenthusiastic, to put it mildly, about patrols on the high seas, with no legal powers whatsoever, designed "to generally harass the trawlers". Harassment would be either ineffective, or dangerous, or illegal; or all three. It would, however, be acceptable in principle from the naval viewpoint to instruct ships to patrol the sea lanes as opportunity arose in the hope that their presence alone would deter smuggling, and also to shadow suspected ships. We would need to be careful of laying ourselves open to accusations of infringing the High Seas Convention at a time when we are particularly concerned, at the Law of the Sea Conference, to ensure high sea freedoms are not eroded; and you will no doubt weigh the chances of other Asian powers making anti-western propaganda out of any UK naval activities against Asian fishing vessels.

4. Any patrol would really only stand some chance of being useful if there was good

An area south intelligence to indicate when and where the smuggling trawlers might be. of the Lema Islands 30-100 miles from Hong Kong would be too large to mount an effective full time patrol with the forces available; and indeed, if only one trawler per week is running drugs, a full time patrol would be exceedingly expensive. Furthermore, without good intelligence, identification of offending craft would be difficult.

5.

In short, we would see any action by HM Ships being confined to

patrolling shipping lanes to show a presence;

a.

b. shadowing specific vessels of which we have intelligence, and arresting them/ alerting police boats to arrest them within Hong Kong territorial waters. (We might of course also, just frighten the smugglers off).

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