The Vietnamese Government has achieved many important results in the prevention and control of drugs and crimes over the past decade, said a conference in Hanoi on Jan. 17.

The conference, jointly organised by the Ministry of Public Security and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said the results were recognised as raising people’s awareness of the danger of drugs and crimes, building and perfecting the legal system, issuing anti-drug and crime action programmes and plans, basically eradicating the growing of opium plants in the country and increasing the efficiency of the fight against drugs and crimes in Vietnam.

More than 10,000 cases of drug trafficking were detected each year, more than 20,000 people were tried and a large amount of heroin, addictive substances and methamphetamines were seized.

Delegates at the conference acknowledged that Vietnam has considered drugs and crimes as a threat to social order, security and stability of each nation and the whole world and it has actively responded to UN activities in the field.

The delegates said that the results were attributable to the Vietnamese government’s efforts and the international community’s important contributions, particularly the UNODC consultation in policy making and building the capacity of Vietnam’s anti-drugs and crime agencies.

These agencies will implement the anti-drugs master plan until 2020, building amendments and supplements to the anti-drug law, a national strategy on the prevention and control of drugs until 2020 and vision for 2030, as well as mobilising aid for international cooperation projects in the field.

UNODC has assisted Vietnam in combating illegal trafficking, improving national administration and criminal justice, reducing demand for illicit drugs and fighting HIV/AIDS. The projects have been devised based on the country’s five-year socio-economic development plan (2006-2011) and its national programmes on the prevention and control of drugs, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, corruption, money laundering and domestic violence.

Conference participants also discussed new cooperation orientations for devising a bilateral cooperation programme and consolidating and enhancing effective cooperation between both sides’ relevant agencies in anti-drugs and crimes./.