Foreign delegates at the just-concluded international anti-drug conference for the Far East Regional Working Group highly value Vietnam’s achievements in preventing and combating drug crime.

According to Vietnam ’s report on fighting drug crime delivered at the event in central Da Nang city on December 5-6, Vietnam has worked closely with regional and global countries, especially nations of the Far East , to implement anti-drug programmes in recent times.

Vietnam actively attend international events to get update on drug crimes criminals and related issues, as well as engage in bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms for crime fighting, including the Association of Heads of ASEAN Parliaments, an MoU of Greater Mekong sub-region countries and international criminal police organisations like Interpol and Aseanpol. The country also exchanges information concerning drug crime on a regular basis with Laos , Cambodia , Australia , US, China , Thailand and Indonesia.

In addition, the country annually sends officer delegations abroad to share experience and undergo training in drug prevention. The drug crime investigation police department is to put into operation a training centre for anti-drug police, which is funded by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the western US inter-sectoral task force in Cua Lo, central Nghe An province.

In close proximity to the “Golden Triangle” and “ Golden Crescent ” - two of the largest opium manufacturing and trading centres in the world - Vietnam is directly influenced by drug crime in the region. By the end of this year, the nation have counted nearly 170,000 drug addicts, who trigger a growing demand for the deadly substances.

On top of this, international drug rings are attempting to make contact with domestic dealers to establish trans-national gangs to smuggle drugs from foreign countries into Vietnam for consumption, or transit to a third country.

Drugs smuggled into Vietnam predominately have their origin from the “Golden Triangle”, and the areas border the country’s northeast, northwest and southwest provinces. In addition, a large amount arrive in Vietnam from West Africa, West Asia and Latin America via the airway, waterway and postal service.

Recently, the use of methamphetamine, known as ice, has grown. Vietnam broke some gangs that were able to craft low-quality drugs on a small scale. However, drug crimes involving foreigners have turned complicated, especially those smuggling heroin via the airway.

This year, Vietnamese law enforcement bodies brought to light nearly 20,000 drug cases with some 30,000 criminals.-VNA