Drug prevention and fight in Son La brings about good results

• Drug smugglers caught in Son La
• Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes reviews task performance
• 2,000 drug traffickers arrested in Southwestern border provinces
• Two sentenced to life imprisonment in transnational drug trafficking case
• International warrant issued for female drug trafficker

Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh (middle) and delegates at the event (Photo: VNA)

The event saw the presence of Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh; Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Commander of the Border Guard High Command; Secretary of the Son La Provincial Party Committee Hoang Van Chat; and representatives from the Police Department for Drug-Related Crime Investigation and other Central and provincial agencies.

Participants at the event evaluated the results of the six-month implementation of Plan 892/KH-BTL issued on March 26, 2018 by the Border Guard High Command, drew lessons and experience from real operations.

Over the past years, Son La, especially the districts of Moc Chau and Van Ho, has been seen as an entrepôt of illegal drugs trafficked from Laos to Vietnam.
To attack drug-related criminals, particularly armed drug traffickers in Moc Chau and Van Ho, the Border Guard High Command developed a plan called 892/KH-BTL, focusing on 4 major solutions to the situation.

During six months of the implementation, the mass mobilization work against drug-related crimes were promoted, helping local officials and people in the border localities become more aware of preventing and fighting drug-related crimes while the grassroots-level political system was cemented.

The provincial Border Guard Command in coordination with relevant forces in the neighbouring province of Dien Bien and Lao police conducted investigation into 13 cases, arresting 34 suspects and seizing 169 bars of heroin, 65kg of crystal meth, 422,000 tablets of meth, 17kg of opium, 18 guns, seven grenades, and seven automobiles. The Son La border guard force also coordinated with the Lao side to investigate five major cases in Houaphan province, Laos.

Son La border guards also coordinated with their peers in Dien Bien to successfully handle nine cases, arresting 11 suspects, seizing 19 bars of heroin, 15kg of crystal meth, 39,000 tablets of meth, 5 kg of opium, 20 bullets, and many other exhibits.

The results have shown that the fight against drug-related crime has achieved positive réults, and the coordination between the local border guard force and police has been closer and more effective. This has also demonstrated that the plan has been implemented in the right direction, contributing significantly to drug-related crime control in the border districts of Moc Chau and Van Ho.

The transportation of drugs from the Golden Triangle to Houaphan and other Lao places near the shared borderline has also been controlled thanks to the close and effective cooperation between the functional forces of Laos and Vietnam. 

So far, activities by drug rings and armed criminal organisations have decreased while the amount of drugs trafficked to Vietnam has dropped 70-80 percent.

At the event, Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh presented gifts to the Tan Xuan Border Post in Van Ho and the Long Sap Border Post in MocChau.

Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien also presented certificates of merit to eight collectives with their outstanding achievements in combating armed drug traffickers operating across the shared border. The Vietnam Fund for the Support of Children presented 200 million VND to poor children in Son La.

Earlier the same day, Acting President Thinh attended the inauguration of the headquarters of the Tan Xuan authorities, Moc Chau, and presented five houses and breeding cows to policy beneficiary families, as well as 200 scholarships to poor children in Moc Chau and Van Ho.