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Clifford Lo

Almost $152 million worth of seized drugs including heroin and party drugs has been incinerated in the first six months of this year, police have disclosed.

The latest incineration was carried out on June 4 at a heavily guarded but undisclosed location in the New Territories.

Common drugs destroyed in a furnace, which is put to work once a month, include ketamine, Ecstasy, heroin and cannabis.

The little-known drug destruction programme is supervised by a special police taskforce and the Environmental Protection Department, whose staff work to ensure there is no leaking of smoke and chemicals that could affect New Territories residents.

In a rare interview, Narcotics Bureau Chief Inspector Betty Pang Mo-yin, who is in charge of the programme, revealed certain details of the operation.

She said seized drugs were sent to her department to be destroyed when no longer needed as court evidence. However, she refused to divulge specifics of where the drugs were destroyed or the destruction schedule.

She said a team of uniformed officers wearing bulletproof vests and armed with shotguns moved the drugs from police headquarters in Wan Chai to the New Territories site each month.

'I believe no one will dare to rob us but security is necessary,' Chief Inspector Pang said.

In the first six months of this year, $151.8 million worth of drugs including 69.4kg of heroin, 8.5kg of ketamine and 5.5kg of Ecstasy was destroyed.

Drugs seized by police, Customs and the Independent Commission Against Corruption are sealed and sent to the police headquarters in Wan Chai and kept in security storage before being destroyed.

Once a court case was concluded, it usually took about six months before drugs were incinerated, Chief Inspector Pang said.

Every month, two police officers with the ranks of superintendent and chief inspector are appointed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Peter Yam Tat-wing, to form a panel to monitor the destruction work. Another two officers from the Government Supplies Department are also involved.

The drugs are driven to the disposal site and then loaded on to a conveyor belt, which is connected to the furnace, Chief Inspector Pang said.

She said police were seizing an increasing amount of party drugs, such as ketamine and Ecstasy. This she attributed to the drugs' growing popularity among young people.  'I believe if we destroy more of this type of drug, there will be less chance for teenagers to obtain dangerous drugs.'



$152m in seized drugs goes up in smoke