THERE was a time when the Singapore mafia ruled the European
underworld.
In the 1970s, Ah Kong, Singapore's most notorious drug gang,
controlled the lucrative European heroin market from its
headquarters in Amsterdam, Holland.
The drug dealers wore flailing trench coats, diamond-studded Rolex
watches and carried suitcases packed with cash.
And like any true Singaporean outfit, it was ruthlessly
efficient.
While it was said Ah Kong could smuggle S$100 million of pure-grade
heroin in a single shipment to anywhere in the world, Ah Kong never
allowed its members to take drugs.
Ah Kong's epic tale is told in a new book Slaying The Dragon.
It will be launched today by Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan
Seng.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said the book is an authoritative
account of Singapore's war against drugs.
In 1975, in a scene straight out of a movie, Ah Kong even clashed
openly with a rival Hong Kong gang - 14 K - in Amsterdam's
Chinatown.
Corpses floated down the city's famed canals.
In between arranging drug deals in the region, Ah Kong members
would stop by Singapore to have their breaks. They partied away at
a plush Orchard Road safe house, before a swoop by the Central
Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in 1978 netted all of them.
The CNB also worked with the Interpol to launch simultaneous raids
in Europe which eventually brought the drug empire to its
knees.
So how did the book's title come about?
Among addicts, sniffing heroin is known as 'chasing the
dragon'.
'The twirling white fumes resemble a dragon,' said author Tan Ooi
Boon, who is a news editor with The New Paper.
'And its clutch is like that of a dragon's. It doesn't let
go.'
Just over a decade ago, Singapore's drug problem was growing to
dangerous levels.
The drug rehabilitation centres, built to house 6,000 heroin
addicts, were packed with more than 8,000.
But in 1995, Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, set a
tough new master plan in place.
And the 'dragon' has systematically been slayed over the
decade.
Last year, only 62 heroin abusers were caught, and of this group,
only eight were new abusers.
In an e-mail reply to The New Paper, DPM Wong noted that for the
younger generation, the controlled drug situation today is
something they easily may take for granted.
When his Ministry prepared for the National Seminar on drug abuse
last year, he realised that hardly any of the officers who were
involved in the early fight against drug abuse, had remained.
He added: 'Senior Minister of State Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee
and I were among the few who were involved from the
beginning.
'The lessons of the past, how we adjusted and modified our battle
plans as we fought against heroin, should not be lost with the
passage of time, leaving our future generations to re-learn the
painful lessons of the past and to re-invent the battle plans from
scratch.'
That was why he later asked the Ministry to commission a book on
Singapore's war against drugs.
This is to serve as a source of reference for those who join the
Home Team today and in the future, to help keep Singapore
drug-free.
Slaying The Dragon will be available at libraries, community
centres, schools and other educational institutions.
