Operating out of old rented flats, dealers can make $150,000 a month selling packets of heroin to up to 200 addicts a day
Police are desperate to stamp out the growing phenomenon of 'drug canteens' that are being set up in old flats to cater for addicts looking for their next fix.
In the past, Hong Kong's 6,000 active heroin addicts usually took the drug on staircases or in back alleyways, but many started switching to drug canteens about two years ago.
Chief Superintendent Kenny Ip Lau-chuen, head of the Narcotics Bureau, said they were mostly located on the first floor of old buildings in Kowloon West.
Each canteen usually operates for only a month or two, with the operators making up to $150,000 a month profit. Mr Ip said police would step up drug raids and track down the proceeds of the gangs operating the canteens and also intercept their supplies.
Police have discussed with the government the possibility of empowering officers to conduct urine or saliva tests on drug addicts because operators are often quick to flush away drugs during raids.
Mr Ip said the number of canteens had increased recently, with 34 of the drug dens already being smashed by police so far this year, compared with 23 in the whole of last year. There were only 23 detected between 1998 and 2001.
