Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia yesterday reviewed their fight against drugs and the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the 11th Trilateral / Bilateral Ministerial Meeting in Laos last year.
This year's meeting on drug control and prevention was hosted by Vietnam and attracted the attendance of over 90 representatives from the three countries.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said drugs were a threat all over the world, especially in the ASEAN community, and could cause social disorder and fatal diseases such as HIV if no action was taken.
Phuc added the three countries were being greatly affected by the Golden Triangle, the largest opium producing area in the world, where traffickers and smugglers took advantage of the tough terrain to hide their activities.
Phuc stressed that close co-operation between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia would be the most crucial to stopping the spread of drugs.
Also, the increasing number of opium poppies, twice as many as 2006, and the emergence of a new breed of modern criminals required close co-operation between border provincial authorities.
Senior Lieutenant General of the Ministry of Public Security Dang Van Hieu said even though the number of drug trafficking cases uncovered in border provinces had been increasing, the quantity of new-born drug criminals kept growing.
Hieu said as many as 2,481 drug cases with about 435 kilos of opium and 49,900 ecstasy pills were seized last year.
Participants discussed a joint statement on increasing co-operation between the three countries in the fight against drugs, establishing a Drug-Free ASEAN by 2015, and launching anti-drug campaigns in border provinces.
Today, the joint statement is expected to be announced.
Ministers agree to closely co-operate to fight drugs
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia reviewed their fight against drugs and the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the 11th Trilateral / Bilateral Ministerial Meeting in Laos last year.
Source: VNS
