ENG-2001 — Page 390

PUBLIC ORDER

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With the global promotion of e-commerce, the Police Force had envisaged that criminals would take advantage of information technology in committing offences, and that Hong Kong would have to maintain a safe and reliable environment for such business. In July, the Technology Crime Division (TCD), a unit dedicated to enforcement action against technology crime, was set up in the CCB. The division is tasked with the responsibility of further enhancing the enforcement capability of the Police Force in the areas of investigation, computer forensics examination and intelligence support. During the year, close liaison was maintained with overseas law enforcement agencies and the private sector, such as computer-related industry, Internet service providers and research institutes. The report of the Inter- departmental Working Group on Computer Related Crime was published, and the Government also mapped out the way forward regarding the report's recommendations. The TCD was already preparing the implementation of some of the recommendations.

Narcotics

In 2001, heroin continued to be the predominant drug used by adult abusers in Hong Kong. While stringent enforcement action against heroin abuse continued, a high priority was accorded to reversing the rising trend of psychotropic substance abuse. During the year, it became apparent that abuse of drugs linked to 'dance parties' such as 'ecstasy'-type tablets and ketamine — would constitute a drawn-out problem. However, the revamped enforcement strategy adopted by the police did achieve considerable success in disrupting the trafficking of psychotropic substances. In all, 2 229 persons were arrested for offences connected to ketamine and 1 142 persons were arrested in cases related to 'ecstasy'-type tablets. Several region-wide operations under the code-name 'Spring Thunder', aimed at cracking down on psychotropic substance abuse, led to the arrest of 219 suspected traffickers, and psychotropic substances worth over $9 million were seized.

In operations targeting narcotics trafficking, the police seized a total of 149 kilograms of heroin and dismantled 12 heroin attenuation centres. A scarcity of heroin in the region, as a result of stepped-up enforcement on both sides of the boundary in early 2001, resulted in reduced seizures of heroin compared with 2000. In one significant case, pursuant to Section 56A of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, a heroin trafficker had two years added to his 24 years' sentence of imprisonment for involving a minor as a drugs courier.

In action against psychotropic substances, police officers seized 2 145 kilograms of herbal cannabis, 184 812 'ecstasy'-type tablets, 39.66 kilograms of ketamine and 39.53 kilograms of methylamphetamine ('ice'). The single seizure of 1980 kilograms of herbal cannabis in April was a record for the Police Force. Furthermore, the police successfully neutralised two rudimentary illicit enterprises, based in Hong Kong, that were producing 'ecstasy'-type tablets. A significant blow was struck against the trafficking of psychotropic substances in June when the police seized precursor chemicals capable of producing a substantial amount of methamphetamine. In relation to 'ecstasy'-type tablets, the seizure of tablets that contained substances other than the customary MDMA became more frequent. For example, tablets purported to be 'ecstasy' were found to contain a mixture of methamphetamine and ketamine. In 2001, the number of persons arrested for drug offences totalled 10 077, compared with 10 139 in 2000. Of those arrested, 1983 were aged 16 to 20 years and 177 were

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