Police-1958-1959 — Page 46

179. The drugs which are the cause of this problem are opium, morphine, heroin and barbiturates. Traffickers continue to make full use of the main sea and air-routes leading to the Colony and as in past years seizures of morphine and opium show that extensive use continues to be made of vessels and aircraft arriving in Hong Kong from Bangkok. All the morphine and 27.5% of the opium seized at time of import was brought into the Colony by vessels or aircraft arriving direct from that port. Seizures have also been made from vessels arriving from Karachi and Calcutta.

180. Almost all the morphine which enters Hong Kong is either in the familiar block form or in crude powdered, form, and is used for the manufacture of heroin. There is very little morphine addiction in the Colony. Its conversion into heroin is carried out by clandestine heroin manufacturing centres. During the year under review, five such factories have been detected and destroyed and the necessary paraphernalia to equip another was seized. Many of those operating these illegal factories were also arrested.

181. Heroin continues to be the main drug used by local addicts and there has been no change in the methods of consumption; the most common is by heating a small quantity of the drug on a piece of silver foil and inhaling the fumes. In this method a barbiturate is also used in conjunction with the heroin, and during the year legislation making barbitone and phenobarbitone dangerous drugs was passed.

182. Apart from the heroin which is produced locally supplies of this drug continue to reach the Colony from Macau. Its close proximity to Hong Kong, the relationship which exists between traffickers in both Colonies and the numerous small craft which ply between them assist this traffic. A number of seizures of heroin have been made during the year from vessels intercepted on their way into the Colony from Macau. These seizures account for approximately one third of the total heroin seized during the year. There have also been indications that the several heroin distribution rings broken up in the Colony during the year were obtaining their supplies from this source.

183. Pure heroin in powdered form continues to find its way out of the Colony and efforts to suppress this traffic have resulted in the breaking up of several syndicates and the arrest of many of their members, both inside and outside the Colony.

36