Public Order | 325
2 020 people were arrested for heroin offences and 3 072 were arrested for psychotropic substance offences.
Although there were less arrests, preventing young people from abusing psychotropic substances, such as ketamine, cannabis, methamphetamine and ecstasy, remained a major operational target throughout the year. An increase in 'crack' cocaine cases was noted and three crack production operations were dismantled by the Police. There was one methamphetamine manufacturing case and a trend towards the stimulant drug being sold in divans was noted in 2005.
The Narcotics Bureau of the Police Force joined forces with Mainland and overseas counterparts to prevent the cross-boundary and transnational flow of illicit drugs. Illicit drugs seizures on the Mainland and overseas arising from these efforts amounted to 250 000 ecstasy-type tablets, 1 766.5 kilograms of ketamine, 294 kilograms of methamphetamine, 152 kilograms of heroin, three kilograms of cannabis buds and a substantial amount of precursor chemicals.
Financial Investigation
The financial investigations of the Police are led by the Financial Investigations Division of the Narcotics Bureau.
During the year a substantial number of complex financial investigations were conducted and 53 money launderers were prosecuted. Since the introduction of legislation on money laundering, a total of $391 million in crime proceeds have been confiscated. Another $109 million in crime proceeds were ordered to be confiscated pending recovery from the convicted criminals and a further $1,292 million of crime proceeds were placed under restraint.
The Financial Investigations Division of the Narcotics Bureau is devising an IT system that will automate the receipt and processing of suspicious transaction reports and thus enhance intelligence gathering. The system, called STREAMS (Suspicious Transaction Report and Management System), is expected to go live in the last quarter of 2006.
The Police Force has been actively participating in both local and international initiatives against money laundering and terrorist financing. In February and May 2005, in partnership with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, anti- money laundering and counter financing of terrorism seminars were held in Hong Kong. In September, a series of seminars was held for compliance officers of the banking, securities, insurance and remittance/money changing industries. Over 700 compliance officers from the industries attended. The Force also provided an expert to help evaluate the financial investigation framework in India in early 2005 and took part in working groups of the Financial Action Task Force, which studied emerging money laundering and terrorist threats and devised counter strategies.
Crime Prevention
The Crime Prevention Bureau continued to provide a public advisory service, and 22 283 security surveys were conducted for both the public and private sectors during the year.
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