Overall crime drops, as police seizures of illegal narcotics on the rise in Hong Kong
The latest official statistics show the overall number of crimes between January to April this year went down by 13.8 per cent year-on-year, with violent crimes dropping by 6.2 per cent.
Hong Kong’s drug problem is showing no signs of abating after the latest official crime figures revealed a sharp year-on-year rise in the seizure of a range of illegal narcotics in the city.
The amount of methamphetamine – commonly known as “Ice” or “crystal meth” – cocaine and cannabis seized by police and customs in the first four months of this year all increased.
While the city’s top security official insisted that the overall crime rate was falling, the latest statistics come as the SAR labours under a growing perception that it is a major growing transhipment point for the flood of crystal meth out of Guangdong province which is fuelling a growing global addiction to the powerful stimulant.
Released by the Security Bureau on Tuesday, the latest official statistics show the overall number of crimes between January to April this year went down by 13.8 per cent year-on-year, with violent crimes dropping by 6.2 per cent.
The amount of cocaine intercepted by authorities went up by 20.8 per cent year on year, from 120 kilograms in 2015 to 145 kilograms this year.
Methamphetamine seizures, meanwhile, rose by 9.9 per cent.
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok brushed off the drug figures as a normal statistical phenomenon: “This is kind of a normal trend. For every quarter, we see some kind of increase and some kind of decrease.”
Other crimes which recorded significant year on year increase include homicide, which went from six cases in the first four months of 2015 to 14 cases in the same period this year.
The number of robberies in the city also went up by 31.4 per cent year-on-year. Lai also played down concerns over these increases.
Lai said the number of robberies recorded in the first four months this year was the second lowest when compared with the same period over the past 10 years.
Overall, the minister said security in Hong Kong was improving. He said the overall number of crimes went down from 22,412 in the first four months of 2015 to 19,315 this year, with violent crime down by 206 cases year-on-year, from 3,324 to 3,118.
Democratic Party lawmaker and member of the Legislative Council’s security panel, James To Kun-sun said.
“[The 13.8 per cent decrease] shows the crime rate in the city is stable. But the figure is not outstanding,” he said.
To urged the government to step up efforts to tackle the drug problem, noting that the use of cocaine is of particular concern.
“[Authorities] could, for example, educate parents and social workers on how to identify [drug users],” he said.
