about 3% of that number. Other surveys are being carried out but their results will not be available for some time to come.
108. The range of narcotics at present used by addicts remains constant and there is no evidence of use in Hong Kong of any of the psychedelic drugs.
TRIAD SOCIETY BUREAU
109. During the past decade, intense Police action has brought about the disintegration of the major Triad factions in Hong Kong. Although this has greatly reduced the overall threat to law and order posed by the Triads, the very fact of disintegration has led to a proliferation of loosely- led splinter groups and these continue to engage in petty crime and to conduct or 'protect' vice in its various forms.
110. The main effort of the Triad Society Bureau during the year, has been directed against these splinter groups with a view to ensuring their further break-up and eventual elimination. To this end, whenever sufficient evidence has been obtainable, prosecutions have been brought against office-bearers and against ordinary members who remain criminally active.
111. Offences for which Triad elements were convicted during the year ranged from common assault to robbery with aggravation. The total number of convictions recorded annually has continued to decline over the past several years and this is indicative not of a relaxation of Police effort but rather of the ever-diminishing Triad influence in the criminal field.
112. A number of investigations conducted by the Bureau into Triad type activities revealed that youthful street gangs, not Triads, were in- volved. Individual members of these gangs have sometimes tended to fill the vacuum caused by the decline of Triad influence by falsely claiming Triad identity in order to intimidate victims for purposes of extortion etc. To discourage this type of intimidation it has been made an offence to 'profess to be a Triad Member or Office Bearer' and the Courts have taken a serious view of such offences.
113. Notwithstanding the fact that the Triads have lost much of their former power, it would be unwise to under-estimate their evil potential. Their relative impotency at present is due to their lack of cohesion and lack of effective leadership. The danger is that from amongst their ranks may emerge a leader or group of leaders with the ability to
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