Drug warning by police chief

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 4

Drug warning by police chief

PA Auckland Some New Zealanders still continue to dabble in drugs in South-East Asia, says an Auckland police chief who has just returned from the region. Detective Chief Inspector R. N. Macdonald said yesterday that foreigners caught trafficking drugs in South-East Asia would find the penalties severe. At least two New Zealanders are serving long prison terms in Thailand, including one Auckland woman jailed for 33 years after being convicted on drug trafficking charges. Mr Macdonald, the head of the C. 1.8. in Auckland, spent seven weeks in Thai-

land, six weeks in Singapore, and made a brief visit to Malaysia. Some New Zealanders in Thailand were continuing to traffick in drugs, he said, but in many cases they were tied up with the narcotics scene in Australia. Mr Macdonald said that most of those countries had reported an increasing level of drug usage, a trend which was “running against the tide” with what was happening in New Zealand. He said that there was a “strong resolve” to combat drugs in the region, especially in Malaysia, where drugs were considered the country’s biggest problem.