About 200 Crime Wing officers received Commanding Officer's Commendations for their achievement in arresting and securing the conviction of over 600 criminals who were subsequently sentenced to a total of 136 years' imprisonment. In addition, 69 officers were awarded their long-service medals or clasps.

In his opening speech, Mr Lo pointed out the job of police officers today is far more challenging than it was in the past. For example, he said, to assist in handling the SARS outbreak, more than 70 Crime Wing officers were deployed to use the Major Incident Investigation & Disaster Support System to identify potential hotspots and, in the end, successfully prevent spread of the disease.

He observed that with the advances in new technology and the ingenuity of today's criminals, combating serious and organised crime had become more complicated and often entailed long periods of deployment planning and meticulous analysis before operations are mounted. Today, said Mr Lo, we show our appreciation to "Crime Wing colleagues who have demonstrated exemplary professionalism and, indeed, have put in a lot of hard work to achieve their successes."

In a string of successful cases, Police had seized four pistols, recovered 43 missing vehicles and confiscated heroin and other drugs with a street value of over $47 million. Also, fraud cases involving property valued at $92 million were detected and 120 bookmaking centres were shut down.