• Addict kills two, injures four in Dong Nai
• Young woman sentenced to death for drug trafficking
• Preventing drug abuse among ethnic minorities

The appeal was made by Hieu at a meeting on June 24 in response to International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 26).

Addressing the event in the northern province of Ninh Binh, General Hieu proposed that ministries, sectors and localities boost anti-drug educational campaigns focused on synthetic drugs and targeted especially at young people.

He also highlighted the need for grassroots level socio-political organizations to become more involved in joint efforts to combat this social evil and create drug-free communes and wards.

The public security official called on the international community and the United Nations (UN) to pay more attention to the fight against drugs in Vietnam and continue their financial and technical assistance to the country.

At the meeting, Zhuldyz Akisheva, country manager for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said she highly appreciates the Vietnamese Government’s efforts to formulate policies to deal with this issue.

The Ministry of Public Security reports that police have discovered more than 30,000 drug-related crimes and arrested over 40,000 drug-related criminals in 2011 and the first half of 2012, breaking up hundreds of dangerous drug trafficking rings.

Vietnam has also basically resolved the issue of planting and replanting opium fields. In the past, there were nearly 20,000 hectares planted with opium poppies in the country.