IN CONFIDENCE
Prices (All expressed in Hong Kong dollars)
15. The following were the prices of drugs on the illicit wholesale and retail markets at the end of the 1st half of 1976 :-
(a) Wholesale
Tael
Ounce
Pound
Kilo-
gramme
Opium (raw)
$ 675
$ 8,100
$ 17,820
No. 3 Heroin
$1,000
$16,000
$ 35,200
Morphine
$10,000
$ 22,000
(b) Retail
Opium (prepared)...
$1,600
$19,200
$ 42,240
No. 3 Heroin
$3,295
$52,720
$115,984
("Tael" is a local term equivalent to 37.7 grammes).
Preventive Service
16. Between January and June, 1976, 384 ocean-going vessels were searched and guards placed on 191 others to deter narcotics smuggling. During the same period a total of 171,354 pieces of incoming sea cargo and 13,367 postal packets were examined. 228 aircraft were searched and 280,813 items of air cargoes examined.
CASE SUMMARIES
Manufacture
17. On 11th February, 1976, acting on information, Narcotics Bureau officers conducted a raid on a heroin refinery situated in a residential flat in Ko Shan Rd., Kowloon. In the rear part of the flat the officers discovered a large amount of heroin undergoing the final (drying) stage of manufacture. Other rooms in the premises yielded quantities of manufactured heroin packed for distribution, three blocks of '999' brand morphine and a very large quantity of chemicals and equipment associated with the manufacture of heroin. The total drugs seized comprised 14.6487 kilogrammes of a mixture containing 5.3084 kilogrammes of salts of esters of morphine, and 4.1105 kilogrammes of a mixture containing 3.4674 kilogrammes of a salt of morphine.
18. Four people were found in the premises at the time of the raid. Chinese males CHOW Chiu-shing (0719/2507/2110), CHENG Chong-hoi (6774/3818/3189) and CHEUNG King-fui (1728/ 2417/1145), and Chinese female WONG Sau-ling (7806/4423/3781) have heen charged with Manu- facturing A Dangerous Drug and Possession Of Dangerous Drugs For the Purpose Of Unlawful Trafficking. CHOW, the tenant of the flat, has also been charged with Permitting Premises To Be Used For The Unlawful Manufacture Of A Dangerous Drug. All defendants have heen committed to stand trial at the Supreme Court.
(HH/CR/265/76)
19. In the afternoon of 4th March, 1976, a party of Narcotics Bureau officers conducted a raid at a farm in Ko Po Village, Kam Tin, New Territories. The initial search of the farm revealed various chemicals and items of equipment associated with the manufacture of heroin, and indications were present to suggest that heroin had been previously manufactured on the farm. Later in the afternoon, a detailed examination of one of the chicken sheds resulted in the discovery of a large wine jar buried under the earth. The jar contained morphine in both block and powder form, the total amount comprising 9.7927 kilogrammes of a mixture containing 7.1160 kilogrammes of a salt of morphine.
20. The following day the search of the farm continued with the assistance of a platoon of officers from the Police Tactical Unit. A second buried wine jar was discovered and found to
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IN CONFIDENCE
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