TNAG-0820-FCO40-1027-Narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1978 — Page 85

Morphine

Morphine is essential in the manu- facture of heroin. Only small quanti- ties of morphine are imported annually into Hong Kong for legitimate use, and there is no evidence to suggest that any is diverted from this source for unlawful purposes.

It is believed that all of the morphine used to manufacture heroin in Hong Kong originates in the mountainous border area of Thailand/Laos/Burma, commonly referred to as the Golden Triangle. The morphine is extracted from the raw opium in factories ad- jacent to the opium growing regions by dispersing the raw opium in water and treating with lime. The morphine and other alkaloids will be retained in

solution whereas much of the other vegetable material may be separated as a sludge. After filtering the mixture, ammonium chloride is added to the solution which will result in precipita- tion of crude morphine.

After separating and drying, the mor- phine base has the appearance of finely ground coffee and the characteristic smell of opium. The total alkaloid content of the powder varies but is usually in the region of 85 per cent with morphine and codeine being the two principal ingredients. Although reports indicate that mor- phine was being extracted from raw opium in Hong Kong before 1954, there are no definite records to support this. It is known, however, that there was a capability to produce high quality heroin and it is more likely that what was thought to be morphine extraction from raw opium was in fact the preparation of pure morphine from the base prior to the manufacture of pure heroin.

Morphine base

Morphine base has been encountered only on rare occasions since 1954 when the compressed morphine block appeared locally. The blocks are made by treating the morphine base with hydrochloric acid to form the water- soluble salt and the solution is 'cleaned' by mixing with charcoal powder. After separation the damp morphine hydrochloride powder is placed in a mould, pressed and dried.

The most common size of a morphine block is 2 ins. by 4 ins. by 5 ins. (5 cm x 10 cm x 13 cm). It weighs about 1.3 kilogrammes and has a den- sity of 1.3. The colour of the block varies from off-white to a dark brown and invariably has the trade mark ‘999' moulded onto it. There are a variety of background designs to the '999' which may consist of simple wavy lines or cir- cles. There are also variations in the border outlining the trademark. There may also be subsidiary trademarks moulded on to the same or opposite side of the block often in the form of

geometric figures such as a hexagon or circle, a flower or other designs. The many combinations of the designs used are probably intended to identify the producer. An accounting number and the weight of the block in grammes are normally written on the block and its wrapping paper.

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