As Narcotics Bureau has just stridden into its 51st year, Chief Superintendent Kenny Ip Lau-chuen in charge of the Bureau vows to continue resolutely tackling drug trafficking, drug abuse and money laundering, and to strive to preserve the excellent reputation that the Bureau has built over the past 50 years.

NB celebrated its 50th anniversary with a banquet last month

And its mission is "to achieve excellence in all that we do in pursuit of effectively disrupting the illicit drugs trade and money laundering, thereby contributing significantly to protecting Hong Kong society from their adverse consequences".

On October 29, the Bureau celebrated its 50th anniversary with a banquet for both serving and former members, and publication of a commemorative book on what it has developed and achieved since coming into being in October 1954. Guests attending the re-union party included former Heads of the Bureau - Mr Hui Ki-on, Mr Tsang Yam-pui, both former commissioners, Mr David Hodson, Mr Iain Grant and Mr Koo Sii-hong.

As a new chapter in the history of the Bureau unfolds, OffBeat takes the opportunity to congratulate the Bureau on its excellent work by recapping some of its notable developments and achievements.

Inception and developments

The Bureau was established in October 1954 as part of the then Anti-Corruption Branch, headed by one Assistant Superintendent, assisted by two staff members. This was quickly expanded to six officers, including a sub-inspector, and its charter was formally set as "developing intelligence and co-ordinating action to suppress narcotics activities". At the time, Hong Kong was seeing a shift from opium abuse to heroin abuse.

In 1961, the Bureau was expanded and became a formation in its own right and moved to the former Li Po Chun Chambers in Des Voeux Road Central. Twelve years later in 1973, it beefed up its manpower and moved into larger office space in the PHQ complex in Wan Chai, and remains there ever since.

Notable events

* In the mid-1970s, the Bureau was highly successful in breaking up large syndicates, particularly those of several notorious drug lords. In 1975, Ng Sik-ho, a major protagonist in international trafficking, was arrested by the Bureau and was eventually sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. Two of his confederates were jailed for 25 years. Other high profile cases cracked by the Bureau in the ensuing years had caused an immense impact on the international illicit drugs trade.

* The year 1989 saw Hong Kong's biggest ever seizure of No.4 heroin when the Bureau seized 420 kilogrammes (kgs) of the drugs, along with firearms, in Sai Kung.

* In one of Hong Kong's most significant drugs money laundering investigations in 1989 after enactment of the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance, just under $165 million - proceeds of large shipments of heroin to the US by a Hong Kong trafficker - was confiscated by the court.

* In 1998 Bureau officers made a record seizure of 160 kgs of methamphetamine that was being offloaded from a vessel moored off Sham Shui Po.

* As the new millennium dawned, Hong Kong was seeing an increase in so-called "party drug" abuse linked to a burgeoning dance party fad. In big "rave parties" and discos, ecstasy was much sought after. At the same time, ketamine was making inroads into the illicit market.

* In 2000, the Bureau seized from a Dutch-Chinese man 240,000 ecstasy tablets smuggled from Netherlands - a record amount in a single case.

* In April 2001, the Bureau made a record haul of 1,980 kgs of herbal cannabis concealed onboard an unattended vessel in a bay in the New Territories.

* In July 2003, it smashed a sophisticated ecstasy production centre in Hung Hom, Kowloon, and seized machinery with a high production capacity, raw materials for producing around 160,000 ecstasy tablets, and 23,577 finished tablets.

* After the Financial Investigation Division of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau merged with that of the Bureau in January 2004, the Bureau's charter for such investigation was extended to cover organised crime and terrorist financing. Since enactment of legislation targeting the ill-gotten gains of traffickers, the court has confiscated several hundred millions of dollars as a result of successful prosecutions brought by the Bureau.

* In March 2004, a ketamine-processing centre in the New Territories was dismantled when 14 kgs of drug were seized.

* April 2004 saw the Bureau making the largest ever haul of cocaine in a case with arrest in Hong Kong when 31 kgs of the drug were seized in Kowloon.

Way Forward

Looking into the future, the Bureau's commemorative book pledges: "Narcotics Bureau will continue to enforce drug laws without fear or favour. We will remain in the vanguard of agencies tackling the financial aspects of crime. We will seek to strengthen our international liaison in an effort to protect societies everywhere from the pernicious drugs trade.

"We will continue to strive for excellence in all that we do. We will continue to ensure that all who serve in the Bureau do so with immense pride and preserve the excellent reputation that the Bureau has built over its 50 years of 'Beating Drugs for a Better Hong Kong'".