Border guards in the central province of Thanh Hoa and those from the Lao northern province of Houapan met on November 15 to discuss an integrated plan on drug prevention in their shared borderline.

Under the 2013-2014 strategy, both sides will coordinate both officials and the public to combat crimes, especially drug-related ones, along with persuading offenders to rehabilitate. A drastic crackdown on illegal traffickers will also be enforced.

The Vietnamese locality, in conjunction with the Lao province, has launched numerous campaigns over the past few years encouraging the public to join local authorities in denouncing the crime.

Many illegal drug smuggling operations over border areas have been successfully prevented thanks to interventions by members of the public.-VNA