Hanoi (VNA) – Leaders of the Drug-Related Crime Investigation Police Department (C04) under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, and the Anti-Drug Department under the National Police, the Ministry of Interior of Cambodia held an online working session on June 19 to seek measures to promote collaboration.
At the meeting, C04 Director Colonel Ngo Thanh Binh noted that drug-related crime along the Vietnam–Cambodia border has continued to evolve in complex ways. Illegal drugs are being trafficked from the Golden Triangle through various provinces in Cambodia into Vietnam, with a significant portion further smuggled to third countries for distribution.
In this context, the law enforcement agencies of both nations have recently enhanced collaboration, focusing on information sharing and joint investigations.
In particular, in April 2023, the two sides successfully carried out a joint operation that dismantled a major organised, transnational drug trafficking ring involving both Vietnamese and Cambodian suspects. The operation led to the arrest of 12 suspects and the seizure of 48kg of drugs in Vietnam, along with the arrest of six suspects and the confiscation of 10kg of drugs in Cambodia. One month prior, another coordinated effort resulted in the arrest of two persons and the seizure of 700kg of drugs in Cambodia.
Additionally, both countries continue to support one another in verifying investigative information, apprehending wanted suspects, and conducting extraditions.
At the meeting, General Khoeng Sarath, Director of Cambodia’s Anti-Drug Department, also reported that the situation in Cambodia remains challenging. From 2024 through the first half of 2025, Cambodian authorities broke up 37 drug trafficking cases involving smuggling into Vietnam, arresting 178 suspects and seizing nearly one tonne of drugs. Joint operations with Vietnam led to the arrest of 19 individuals and the seizure of 720kg of narcotics across three cases.
To further strengthen efforts to combat drug crimes along their shared border, both sides agreed to continue intensifying information exchange and collaboration on joint operations targeting transnational drug networks. They also plan to launch targeted awareness campaigns and crackdowns, enhance border patrol coordination, increase delegation exchanges, and provide capacity-building support for frontline forces.
Both sides expressed their shared commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation, opening a new chapter in the joint fight against drug-related crime, with more significant achievements./.
Chinese nationals arrested for border crossings, illegal arms, drug transport
Upon their arrest, authorities searched the group's backpacks and confiscated seven handguns, three rifles, two grenades, 470 bullets, two packets of a white powder suspected to be heroin, and many other exhibits.
