Children as young as 10 caught with dangerous drugs in Hong Kong

Jun 19, 2009, 3:06 GMT

   Hong Kong - The number of schoolchildren aged 10 to 15 arrested in Hong Kong for possessing or trafficking dangerous drugs has doubled since last year, a news report said Friday.

   The surge in arrests comes amid mounting concern over the increase in the number of young people caught with drugs in the wealthy former British colony.

   Seventy children aged 10 to 15 were arrested for offences involving dangerous drugs between January and April, twice as many as in the same period in 2008, the South China Morning Post reported.

   There has also been a rise in the number of 16 to 20-year-olds arrested on drug offences from 337 in the first four months of 2008 to 357 in the first four months of 2009, the newspaper said.

   Members of Hong Kong's notorious triad gangs are believed to be behind the increase in drug use with members targeting schools in the city of 7 million.

   Four cases of teenagers falling ill after taking drugs have been reported in the past month and on Wednesday, police arrested a group of teenagers in a bust on a suspected triad-run drugs cafe.

   Triad gangs are secret societies running drugs, extortion and prostitution rackets in Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities. They are blamed for 3 per cent of overall crime in Hong Kong.