聯合國最近發表的《2021年世界毒品報告》指出，2020年全球約2.75億人使用毒品，比2010年增加22%。分析指出，疫情導致經濟困難，可能使非法藥物種植產生更大的吸引力；同時，疫情下的社會不平等、貧困和精神健康問題加劇，可能促使更多人吸毒。在香港，近日也發現了販運毒品的新模式，澳門亦不能掉以輕心。
警方破獲新模式販毒罪案
7月21日，香港警方毒品調查科搗破涉嫌販運毒品及串謀販毒的案件，揭捕了5名年齡由17至29歲的無業男子。 警方在香港19個地方進行調查後，檢獲總值約1.071億元的毒品，包括可卡因、氯胺酮、霹靂可卡因，以及一批毒品包裝工具。毒品夾雜在日用品如枕頭、水靴及包裝箱裏，從外觀難以察覺。
最重要的是，警方發現了販運毒品的模式。具體來說，販毒集團租用了多個小倉庫來存放毒品，以逃避追捕。警方毒品調查科警司陳江明表示：「（不法分子）電召一些物流貨車，指示送貨員到不同倉庫，並透過電話、事先安裝的網絡監控鏡頭，遙距控制和指示及監察這些送貨員，進入倉庫提取貨品，所有這些倉庫都安裝了智能密碼鎖。」
據悉，被利用來運送毒品的速遞員由於不知情，沒有被捕，警方則提醒倉庫業主及物流從業員提高警覺。
另外，香港海關7月18日在元朗錦上路一間三層村屋搗破一個逾2000呎的大麻種植場，檢獲近400棵大麻草，市值約3600萬元，並於7月20日拘捕一名男租客。
禁毒常務委員會6月17日在季度會議上報告了2021年香港首季的毒品情況。數字顯示，被呈報吸食大麻的人數較去年同期上升近50%。最令人震驚的是，21歲以下青少年吸食大麻的人數，較去年同期上升近60%！根據《危險藥物條例》，任何人種植大麻，一經定罪，可被處以 10萬港元罰款及監禁 15 年，而運輸危險藥物者，一經定罪，可被處以 500 萬港元罰款及終身監禁。
涉案青少年有增加趨勢
2021 年首5個月，香港有 278 名 14至 20 歲青少年涉及毒品案被捕，較 2020 年同期上升60% 。由於涉嫌毒品案被捕的青少年有增加趨勢，警方使用了禁毒推廣車宣揚禁毒訊息。
至於澳門，2020年有219名被呈報的吸毒者，其中21歲以下的人佔7.3%。涉毒的年輕人數字似乎有所減少。然而，分別有35.5% 和19.2% 的藥物濫用案件，與冰毒和可卡因有關。 因此，澳門有必要加大禁毒宣傳力度，尤其是考慮到香港的情況有惡化跡象。
澳門的毒品犯罪愈來愈多與利用海路和速遞運輸有關，這是一個值得關注的新情況。 2021年1月和2月，澳門警方破獲兩宗販毒案，案中一宗是澳門人和一名香港男子將價值約246 萬澳門元的液體可卡因與紅酒混合運往澳門。
此外，毒品偷運往澳門的新招也層出不窮，例如將毒品與口罩和食物混在一起、將可卡因和冰毒放在蛋捲盒中寄往澳門、將冰毒藏在玩具中寄往澳門等。總括來說，澳門發現的小型販毒案件，也涉及少數族裔和與香港有關的跨境犯罪。
警方跨境合作加強查緝
在內地，毒品問題同樣突出。 據報道，最近一宗涉及內地知名藝人的指控，可能與涉嫌使用在內地流行的新型毒品「聽話水」及「乖乖水」有關。這種含有GHB（γ-羥基丁酸）的藥品，本來是一種中樞神經系統抑制劑，具有強烈鎮靜、催眠的作用，多用於治療癲癇和驚厥等症，由於GHB只需極小劑量就可造成睏乏無力、安眠、四肢癱軟，甚至興奮等副作用，加上有其他安全系數較高的藥物作代替品，因而在醫學上已近乎停止使用，但近年被不法份子利用混在飲料中，以便進行搶劫、性侵等不法行為。
據報，內地許多省份都有生產含有GBH成分的「聽話水」及「乖乖水」。醫學專家指出，過度使用GHB 會令人喪失意識，甚至危及生命。 在香港，GHB 已於 2010 年 10 月被列入危險藥物清單，任何走私和使用 GHB 的人，一經定罪，可處以 500 萬港元罰款，並可能處以終身監禁。
綜上所述，與毒品相關的犯罪活動最近在香港變得更加突出，犯罪集團正在使用更加隱蔽和複雜的生產、販運和交易方法。 儘管澳門所受影響相對較小，鑑於吸毒和販運毒品現象普遍存在，內地、香港和澳門執法部門必須加強跨境合作，共同打擊毒品，特別是要向容易受到毒品誘惑的青少年推廣禁毒訊息。
A New Pattern of Narcotics Crime in Hong Kong: Implications for Macau
While the United Nations has found that Covid-19 has stimulated the narcotics trade directly or indirectly in many parts of the world, a similar pattern can be found in Hong Kong, with implications for Macau.
Hong Kong has recently witnessed an upsurge in narcotics trade. On July 21, the narcotics bureau of the Hong Kong police smashed two drug trafficking syndicates, arresting five unemployed persons ranging from 17 to 29 years old. Drugs including cocaine, ice and ketamine worth HK$171 million were found and confiscated after the police investigated 19 places in Hong Kong. Some young people were recruited by the organized crime syndicates as marketing agents.
Most importantly, the police uncovered a new pattern of drug trafficking. Specifically, the two drugs trafficking syndicates rented six small warehouses to store their narcotics. They used trucks as a logistical supply chain to transport the drugs to buyers in different places. To protect themselves, organized crime syndicates used video cameras to guard their warehouses and detect whether police came to raid on their drugs storage. This new style of drug trade showed that the criminal syndicates relied on street-level members to distribute narcotics to their buyers without the need for their crime bosses to appear in person. Moreover, the drugs trafficking syndicates mixed the narcotics with all kinds of materials, such as tea bags, pillows and shoes to make it difficult for the police to crack down on their illegal activities.
Drug trafficking syndicates also used hotel rooms, factories, and apartment units as covers to hide their narcotics. The bosses of these syndicates contacted logistics supply companies as the middlemen to transport their drugs to buyers. The warehouses were also locked with smart codes, making it difficult for police to uncover.
According to inspector Chan Kong-ming from the narcotics bureau, a normal process of drugs trade was characterized by the appearance of the real persons to receive the drugs. However, the “new” style of drug trade was characterized by the drugs syndicate receiving the “orders” through telephone calls (RTHK news, July 23, 2021). Then transport agents were provided with a code number to go into the warehouse to acquire the drugs. The whole process did not need the appearance of the sellers concerned, thereby trying to protect the drugs syndicate’s organizers. Such a process could also victimize the persons responsible for transporting the drugs.
On July 20, the narcotics section of the customs and excise department discovered a village farmhouse in Yuen Long where marijuana was grown (Oriental Daily, July 21, 2021, A8). The village house was equipped with air conditioning, ventilation and strong lighting systems. The confiscated marijuana not only amounted to 250 catties and embraced 383 plants, but it also worth HK$ 36 million. The customs and excise authorities estimated that, if three to four months were required for the harvest of marijuana, the village farmhouse could produce one ton of marijuana every year with a market price of HK$150 million. The lucrative nature of harvesting marijuana prompted the criminal elements to grow them at village villas at the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. One arrested suspect used HK$38,000 to rent the village farmhouse and he had already grown the marijuana for three months. The farmhouse was found to have triad background, although the arrested person interestingly did not have triad affiliation.
The narcotics section of the customs and excise department reported that the first quarter of 2021 envisaged a rise of 50 percent of the number of people taking marijuana. Most alarmingly, those marijuana buyers and consumers who were under 21 years old increased by sixfold. Clearly, more young people ran the risk of ruining their health and being arrested. Any person who plants marijuana, according to the dangerous drugs ordinance, can be penalized for HK$100,000 and imprisoned for 15 years, while those who transports dangerous drugs can be penalized for HK$5 million and imprisoned for life.
There was evidence showing that narcotics came into Hong Kong through the border with the mainland. On July 13, the customs and excise officials stopped a truck going into Hong Kong from Shenzhen and they found thirteen types of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, ice, heroin and ketamine which amounted to HK$1.4 million. One 46-year-old driver was arrested.
Those people involved in the manufacturing and transport of drugs included not only local Hong Kong Chinese but also ethnic minorities. On July 13, six Pakistanis were arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine by mixing the liquid form with cooking oil. Police found that drugs traffickers used the typical method of “ants transportation,” smuggling drugs in a large number with a small quantity each time. In the first half of 2021, the amount of cocaine being covered was 910 catties, an increase of 52 times compared with the same period of 2020. Similarly, the number of ketamine cases was 153 in the first half of 2021 – an increase of 62 cases compared with the first half of 2020. The amount of methamphetamine was 78 catties in the first half of 2021, a decrease of 270 catties from the first half of 2020. While the popularity of ice declined, cocaine and ketamine have increased considerably in their demand and supply.
There was a tendency for individuals to manufacture narcotics in their own apartment units. On July 14, the police arrested a triad member in Yuen Long where he used his apartment unit to manufacture and store drugs, including 4.5 catties of heroin and drugs-producing equipment. The triad member was arrested together with his girlfriend, both reportedly unemployed. During the persistence of Covid-19, some unemployed people have been resorting to drugs production and trafficking to sustain their livelihood at the risk of being arrested and penalized.
The way in which drug traffickers work has turned out to be far more sophisticated and hidden than before (Ta Kung Pao, July 12, 2021, A14). In one case, after selling all the heroin, a drug distributor in a shopping mall in Mongkok reported to the “big boss,” who then sent his agent to refill heroin in a hidden place. Then the big boss told the distributor to get the heroin, but in the entire process the distributor and the agent did not really know each other. Moreover, the distributor received his payment for his distributing work through various means, including cash coupons in the Jockey Club and Internet bank transfer. To avoid the police from detecting the place where drug syndicate stored its drugs, other agents were sent to conduct surveillance and act as “observers.”
During the first five months of 2021, 278 young people aged between 10 and 20 were arrested for drugs abuse and trafficking in Hong Kong – an increase of 74 people compared with the first five months of 2020. In view of the rising number of young people being arrested for drug abuse and trafficking, an anti-narcotics vehicle with the collaboration of the police was used to educate the young people on the negative impacts of narcotics.
Fortunately, Macau in 2020 witnessed 219 drugs abusers, including 7.3 percent of those who were under 21 years old. It appeared that the young people who committed drugs-related offences decreased. However, 35.5 percent and 19.2 percent of drugs abuse were related to ice and cocaine respectively. There were and are hidden case of drug abuse in Macau. As such, more publicity work against narcotics is necessary in Macau, especially in view of the aggravating situation in Hong Kong.
The narcotics crime in Macau is increasingly related to the use of sea route and couriers for transportation – a new pattern that deserves attention. In January and February 2021, the Macau police uncovered two cases of drug trafficking in which a local person and a Hong Kong man mixed liquid cocaine with red wine to be couriered to Macau. The cocaine liquid amounted to MOP2.46 million.
Moreover, the way in which drugs were transported to Macau displayed a similarly new pattern. Drug traffickers mixed drugs with facial masks and food. In July, three Vietnamese working in hotels were arrested for producing and selling ice. In May, a man who got married with a Vietnamese woman was found to produce and sell cocaine to a small Vietnamese community, earning MOP30,000. In the same month, a Hong Kong-based drug syndicate mailed cocaine and ice stored inside boxes of egg rolls to Macau, where four local people were responsible for distribution and who were arrested by the police. Earlier in March, a Filipino couple was arrested for selling ice amounting to MOP31,000. In September 2020, a Hong Kong man who lived in the mainland was arrested in Macau for arranging ice to be hidden in toys that were mailed to Macau. Overall, small cases of drug trafficking were discovered in Macau, including ethnic minorities and cross-border crime related to Hong Kong.
In the mainland, narcotics-related trade has become prominent. A recent allegation involving a mainland celebrity might be, according to news report, enmeshed in a suspected use of “a new type of drug,” which is increasingly popular in the mainland (HK01.com, July 23, 2021).
This drug is Aphrodisiac, which has been reportedly manufactured extensively in many mainland provinces. The liquid form of Aphrodisiac has been used in cakes and candies, including the element of Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) that can control and calm down the neuro system but has the effect of making a person feel tired, sleepy and in lack of energy.
Some criminal elements have reportedly mixed GHB with drinks and alcohol, allowing them to engage in criminal activities, such as thefts, deception and sexual assault. According to medical experts, GHB can make people feel excited, but its excessive usage can lead to the loss of consciousness. If GHB is combined with alcohol, a person who consumes the mixed alcohol can have his or her life endangered. According to the UK Office for National Statistics, from 2014 to 2018, there were 120 cases of death concerning GHB in England and Wales. In Hong Kong, GHB was already integrated into the list of dangerous drugs in October 2010 and any person who smuggles and uses GHB is liable for a penalty of HK$5 million with the possibility of life imprisonment.
In conclusion, drugs-related crime has recently become more prominent in Hong Kong where criminal syndicates are using more hidden and sophisticated methods of production, trafficking and transactions. Macau has been relatively less affected, perhaps fortunately and perhaps thanks to the hard work of the police and the vigilance of the public. However, given the prevalence of drugs-related abuse and trafficking, the law-enforcement authorities in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau will have to strengthen their cross-border cooperation in the joint combat against narcotics, especially targeting at the young people who can be easily under the temptation of drugs abuse.
原刊於澳門新聞通訊社（MNA）網站，本社獲作者授權轉載。
