Vietnam, Laos bolster cross-border drug control co-operation

The Ministries of Public Security of Vietnam and Laos held a bilateral ministerial conference on October 26 to review the one-year implementation of the MoU on co-operation in drug prevention and control.

As part of his address at the conference, Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant General Nguyen Duy Ngoc said that with traditional friendship ties and special solidarity existing between the two countries, along with the spirit of uncompromising struggle against drug crimes, the Party, Government, and people of both sides signed the MoU. The main aim of this is to strengthen co-operation in drug prevention and control, with the document being signed on August 9, 2021, in Vientiane, Laos.

This is part of the wider joint efforts to promote drug prevention and control co-operation between the two sides in a more practical and effective manner.

Along with the achieved results, according to Deputy Minister Ngoc, co-operation in the fight against drugs still reveals some shortcomings and limitations.

The Vietnam-Laos border line features rugged terrain and limited socio-economic conditions, whilst the open-door policy and international integration of the two countries has been thoroughly exploited by criminals seeking to commit drug crimes.

Furthermore, the complicated nature of drugs and the activities of drug crimes in each country, especially on the border between the two countries, remains complicated due to the use of very sophisticated and dynamic methods and tricks. This includes planting trees containing narcotics in some areas bordering the two countries, whilst precursor management has many loopholes and limitations.

At the conference, Lao Deputy Minister of Public Security Lieutenant General Khamking Phuilamanyvong expressed great appreciation for Vietnamese aid to Laos to build a police headquarters near the border.

This represents an invaluable and significant step to contributing to the prevention and control of cross-border crimes between the two countries, thereby showing the attention of the Party and State leaders, as well as those of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security given to the people of the two countries living along the common border.

Deputy Minister Phuilamanyvong suggested the two sides work together to swiftly complete the construction of a police office in the border village to contribute to crime prevention and control along the border. This will ensure security and order protection along the border line in a bid build the area into a place of peace, friendship, and development.

Information released during the conference indicates that, after one year of carrying out the MoU, the police forces of the two nation have achieved initial results in the fight against drug crimes.

The two sides have co-ordinated efforts to grasp the two countries’ crime and drug situation, especially on the border line as they seek to identify key and complicated drug-related routes and areas.

The police of the two nations also co-ordinated to map out a number of key routes and locations that could be used by drugs traffickers from the "Golden Triangle" area to Laos and then across the border to Vietnam.

Police forces of both sides have completed the establishment of a "hotline" at four levels of police combined with information exchange through the Cross-Border Liaison Office (BLO).

As a result, Vietnamese police units and localities have discovered and successfully arrested 5,338 cases and 7,397 drug offenders, whilst seizing 292kg of heroin, 2.7kg of opium, 1,54 tonnes and 1.62 million synthetic drug tablets, along with other related evidence.

The police of the two countries also offer training and capacity building for full-time officers of the Laotian Ministry of Public Security to proficiently use equipment and drug assessments to serve effective fight against drugs crimes.

At present, the police of 10 provinces bordering Laos have invested in building 191 village police offices, of which 179 ones have now been handed over.

At the conference, the Deputy Ministers of Public Security of both Laos and Vietnam awarded Certificates of Merit to collectives and individuals who have made outstanding achievements in implementing the MoU, as well as those focused on the suppression of drug-related crimes on the border this year.