Pubdate: Mon, 27 Dec 2004
Source: China Post, The (Taiwan)
Copyright: 2004 The China Post.
Contact:  http://www.chinapost.com.tw
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2840

SOUTH AMERICAN DRUG BARONS TARGETING HONG KONG MARKET

Police in Hong Kong believe a massive increase in cocaine seizures this year
shows South American drug barons are targeting the city as a growth market,
a press report said Sunday.

Seizures of the drug in 2004 jumped almost tenfold to 60 kilograms from 6.6
kilograms in 2003.

Police said the shift in focus toward the region has been prompted by market
saturation in Europe and the United States, as well as the boom in Southeast
Asian economies, reported the South China Morning Post.

Narcotic Bureau chief superintendent Kenny Ip warned that there is a growth
in supply in the city as the street value of the drug has almost halved this
year.

"Demand for cocaine in Europe and North America has become saturated. So
drug dealers have started to expand their markets to Southeast Asia, which
is enjoying an economic boom," Ip was quoted as saying.

He also said there has been a rise in the number of flights and visitors
from South America via Europe or South Africa, to Southeast Asia, including
Hong Kong.

Many drug syndicates used criminals with passports issued by south African
nations to smuggle drugs to the former British colony.

Several high-profile raids and arrests were made towards the end of the
year.

Early this month, police stormed a fish-farming raft that was used as a
cocaine factory and seized 400 liters of the diluted drug. A Hong Kong man
and a Peruvian were arrested in connection with the case.

The raid followed the arrest at the airport of a 72-year-old Hong Kong
welfare recipient flying in from Peru with 10.2 kilograms of cocaine, the
largest amount found on a passenger in the territory.
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MAP posted-by: Josh