TNAG-0504-FCO40-569-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 88

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CONFIDENTIAL

NOTE FOR FILE

23

Messrs.

Mr Crowson

Mr Wotton

Mr Hand, UN Dept.

NARCOTICS

1.

Mr Train came to see me today to discuss the recent meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotics in Geneva. He said that he had had discussions with the Americans Cusack and Bartels about the continuation of tripartite Anglo/US/Hong Kong cooperation outside the UN framework. This had been initiated by the Americans at the first meeting in Hong Kong last year and they were keen to carry on with it. The focus of attention would remain the narcotics traffic in Hong Kong.

He

2.

Mr Train said that there was more direct United Kingdom interest in such meetings now than there had been last year since there was a continuing and worrying trade in Hong Kong heroin into the United Kingdom. By contrast Mr Rolph for Hong Kong had seemed less keen than previously on continuing tripartite meetings. had seemed to take the view that since the trawler traffic from Thailand had died down and since the Narcotics Commission in Hong Kong was now a going concern and did not have to prove itself to the Hong Kong Government, there might be less need for direct cooperation with the US and UK. However, Mr Rolph had said that, if the Americans and British wanted to continue the meetings, he thought Hong Kong would wish to do so too.

3.

There had been some discussion of where and when the next meeting might take place. Mr Train himself favoured Washington in June or July of this year, rather than Hong Kong or London. At last year's meeting, Hong Kong had proved too public for confidential discussions; and he did not think the Home Office were yet psychologically ready to service a meeting in London. The requirement, he thought, was for a continuation of low key, largely informal meetings with no publicity.

4.

I said I thought the FCO would agree to this and would be prepared to put it to the Governor of Hong Kong. We had been doubtful last year about a tripartite meeting immediately before the UN ad hoc committee meetings on South East Asia but these were now out of the way and, provided that it was clear that the meetings would be at senior operational level and concerned with the drug traffic in Hong Kong rather than with organising the whole pattern of anti-narcotic activity in South East Asia, I believed they could do good and little harm.

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CONFIDENTIAL