ENG-1995 — Page 320

PUBLIC ORDER

Commercial Crime

The Commercial Crime Bureau maintained its emphasis on the investigation of fraud within the financial and trading sectors. The Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading Ordinance, which came into effect on September 1, 1994, has brought about a dramatic decrease in the number of complaints against unscrupulous foreign exchange companies.

Since its inception in 1993, the Computer Crime Section has been tasked with enforcing the Computer Crimes Ordinance. Cases handled varied from hacking via the Internet to the destruction of company databases by employees. The section forged links with similar units in other police forces throughout the world.

The Counterfeit and Forgery Division enjoyed another fruitful year in the fight against the production and use of counterfeit credit cards. Within a six-month period, four counterfeit credit card factories, including one operated in China by Hong Kong criminals, were successfully detected. These operations saved billions of dollars in potential losses for the credit card industry.

Narcotics

Strict enforcement initiatives in Burma and China noticeably disrupted supplies in 1995. The purity of No. 4 heroin continued to fluctuate slightly and, by the end of 1995, it was 23.34 per cent, compared with 23 per cent in 1994. Prices fluctuated throughout the year, and by the end of 1995, one gram of heroin cost $380, as against $463 for the same period in 1994.

In 1995, 379.9 kilograms of opiate drugs, comprising opium and No. 4 heroin, were seized, compared with 455 kilograms in 1994. There were 16 143 arrests for narcotics offences, compared with 15 601 in 1994.

Narcotics enforcement resulted in 21 heroin manufacturing or cutting centres being neutralised. Additionally, the territory's demand for methylamphetamine or 'ice increased. A total of 14.53 was seized in 1995.

Since the introduction of the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance in September 1989, and the establishment of the Financial Investigation Unit, a total of $91,252,525 has been confiscated from drug traffickers in Hong Kong. As a result of international co-operation, a total of $299,423,5Ĩ7 has been seized from local drug

traffickers overseas.

Crime Prevention

The Crime Prevention Bureau continued its public education programmes on the principles of crime prevention and the provision of specific security advice to vulnerable targets within the community. A new Mobile Exhibition Centre, which displays various security equipment, has greatly enhanced the bureau's efforts in promoting domestic premises security.

The bureau also worked closely with the Security and Guarding Services Authority, which was established on June 1, 1995, with a view to improving the service standard of the security industry. The bureau's capability in the fields of secure environmental design and computer security was further enhanced by the creation of dedicated units for these functions. Close liaison with the Housing Department has achieved considerable improvements in the security of public housing estates.

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