‘Mission impossible’ for drugs man

Press, 21 February 1978, Page 17

‘Mission impossible’ for drugs man

The police officer that the New Zealand Government chooses to station at Bangkok to take on the task of narcotics liaison with other police forces will have a “mission impossible” assignment Interviews in Bangkok with foreign narcotics control officers highlighted some of the qualities the New Zealanders will need to have—the skills of a diplomat; patience of a Job; ability to hold back on an early arrest for subsequent greater gain; and a high level of sensitivity to Thai Government feelings. The reason these high qualities will be needed is the delicate and secretive network of intelligence operations that antinarcotics officers have set up to deal with the sophisticated and shadowy operations of international drug rings.

Officials say that a “lone

operative” working with ineffective liaison can unwittingly botch a long-term operation against a narcotics syndicate that is on the verge of success. Arrest of one drug trafficker at the wrong time can remove the vital link in a chain leading to the mastermind behind a smuggling group. The skills of a diplomat are needed, they say, when an officer’s government demands the arrest of a trafficker. The officer must either be able to persuade other counter - narcotics agents that the arrest must be made, against their judgment, or be able to persuade his government it is better to delay action. Patience is necessary, they add, because a temptation frequently arises to seize the trafficker and forget long-term gain. Publicity tor a spectacular catch can be difficult to forgo. It demonstrates, on the

surface at least, that money spent by taxpayers on narcotics control is bringing results, even if the results are little more than “skin deep.”

A sensitivity to Thai feelings is essential, because the Thai Government has itself a larger team of officials engaged on antinarcotics work. An officer who gains a reputation among the Thais for wasting their time with what they regard as "small beer” will not get their cooperation.

There are already nine narcotics liaison offices established in Bangkok, representing the United States, Hong Kong, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Australia, the United Nations, and Interpol. West Germany is soon to open an office. New Zealand would establish the eleventh.

The presence of these

offices reflects the size of drug smuggling operations. Hugh quantities of opium, heroin, and cocaine are available in the notorious “Golden Triangle” on the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos. A kilo of high-grade heroin can now be bought in the “Triangle” for about $2500. Its retail street value in Amsterdam, New York, and Auckland is estimated at about $750,000. With the potential rewards so high for successful smuggling, narcotics operators have gained a reputation among control officers as second to none for ruthlessness.

Officials report dozens of cases in which gangs have tipped off customs agents about a courier. His, or her, arrest disembarking from a plane has often acted as a decoy for the carrier of a larger quantity of drugs who has been

travelling on the same aircraft.

“The $lOO the seized courier has received is not much compensation for months spent in a Thai jail,” one official said.

Itinerant New Zealand and Australian travellers are ready marks for syndicate operators. “The money is tempting and often the task seems easy. But the' end results can often be far more terrible than the itinerant courier dreamed possible.” At present, two New Zealanders are embroiled with Thai authorities on drug charges. William Gavin Main has been charged with seeking to smuggle 53.5 kilograms of marijuana by air. He was arrested at Bangkok Airport on December 14 with a suitcase full of marijuana sticks. He is being kept in a Bangkok jail while awaiting trial.

David John Cowdrey, a New Zealander who has lived in England for some years, was charged after 60 kilograms of marijuana were found in an electrical w-elding machine. Police later raided the hotel room of his girlfriend and found her naked, trying to flush two sticks of marijuana down the room’s toilet. Cowdrey jumped bail, as did an Englishman charged at the same time in connection with the alleged offence, and has not been seen since. His girlfriend returned to England after paying a small fine. Thai authorities are considering increasing existing penalties for hard-drug smuggling. Offenders could, under the proposed new laws, be sentenced to 10 years in jail—a length of

sentence imposed now only if the Thais choose to prosecute under the harshest of existing laws, which they rarely do if an offender pleads guilty. No recent evidence has surfaced, officials say, of smugglers using yachts to carry hard drugs from the “Golden Triangle” to New Zealand. But, they add, the proposed New Zealand anti-narcotics official will probably have regional responsibilities which will give him greater opportunity to keep track of possible sea and air transportation of hard drugs than if he were confined to Bangkok. The police officer to be assigned the “mission impossible” task is expected to be named by the Government soon.

By

BRUCE KOHN.

NZPA

staff correspondent