Operations

Overall Crime
The overall crime situation in 2000 remained stable, with the main concern being the increased arrests of juveniles and young persons.

Organised Crime and Triads
Constant vigilance and enforcement has ensured that organised crime has been kept well under control. Triad-related cases accounted for only 3.2 per cent of reported crimes in 2000, the lowest level in many years. During the year, the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) mounted two major undercover operations against active triad factions that resulted in 51 people being arrested and charged with triad-related offences.

Separate operations neutralised a number of criminal activities. Among the successful operations, the Bureau smashed five syndicates involved in vehicle thefts and recovered 28 vehicles. It also helped crack down on the comparatively new phenomenon of smuggling container-loads of human cargo from the Mainland, arresting about 50 Hong Kong citizens involved in transhipping illegal migrants destined for the United States and Canada.

Close liaison is maintained with the public security authorities on the Mainland to counter various cross-boundary crimes. With the assistance of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau (PSB), a major operation was launched against loan-sharking and debt collection activities in April, leading to the neutralisation of a syndicate involved in over 1 000 criminal damage cases, and 42 people being arrested.

Special legislation enabled the Bureau to confiscate more than $780,000 in ill-gotten gains and hold a further $148.5 million worth of assets pending court proceedings. Twenty people were arrested for money laundering offences.

Commercial Crime
Serious fraud reports levelled off at 1999 levels, remaining more than a third down from the 144 cases recorded at the height of the Asian financial turmoil. While there was one more case, reported losses actually decreased to $2.24 billion, from $3.09 billion in 1999. Almost 30 per cent of the losses came from Letter of Credit frauds, even though the number of cases was half that of 1999.

During the year, a major crackdown on fraudulent loco-London gold trading — where prospective job seekers were enticed to enter into deceptive or non-existent plans on bullion trading — resulted in a 70 per cent drop in cases. Of concern, however, was the emergence of sophisticated pyramid scheme-related frauds. The Commercial Crime Bureau exposed two high profile cases in late 2000 that led to the prosecution of eight individuals and a total of $71 million worth of suspected fraud proceeds being restrained under the Organised & Serious Crime Ordinance.

Computer-related crimes continued to increase in line with the growth of information technology, although the total number remained small compared to other crimes. The most common offences were hacking of web sites, malicious data damage and internet-related frauds. It is hoped that the successful prosecution and jailing of some hackers during the year will serve as a stronger deterrent.

The need to strengthen the Force's operational capability against computer-related crimes was endorsed by the Chief Executive in his 2000 Policy Address. Within 2001, the current Computer Crime Section will be upgraded to a Division headed by a Senior Superintendent, and a Computer Forensic Examination Laboratory will be established to meet the increasing demand for such scrutiny.

The problem of counterfeit Hong Kong banknotes was generally contained apart from during the summer when more surfaced than normal. Based on an intelligence operation, the Bureau neutralised two major production centres for inkjet counterfeits, seizing a substantial number of these popular fake notes. In the case of counterfeit coins, the number detected dropped by 32 per cent compared to 1999.

Counterfeit payment cards remain a growing global problem, but Hong Kong has been affected less than other countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Bureau was able to neutralise two secondary production centres for counterfeit credit cards during the year.