Minister To Lam reiterates resolve to combat drug crimes

Minister To Lam speaks at the discussion.

Speaking at a discussion of the ongoing 6th session of the 14th National Assembly on October 23, Minister To Lam said that the fight against drug crime faced various difficulties in the past. 

Functional forces had to spend much time in testing the seized drug concentration, as drugs were often mixed with impurities by drug traffickers to be more profitable. Today, tests of drugs can be done in a short time, facilitating the handling of drug cases.

Minister To Lam stated that the police forces have attacked the heads of drug-trafficking rings and hot-spots of drug-related crimes in recent times. He quoted recent cases when the police raided drug traffickers in their safe havens in Son La and Hoa Binh, known as the two entrepôts, which received 60 to 70% of the total volume of drugs infiltrated into Vietnam.

After the attacks in Son La and Hoa Binh, drug traffickers shifted their operations to other localities, like Dien Bien, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh. When functional forces conducted more attacks on drug trafficking rings, the prices of drugs rose in the domestic market and criminals devised more sophisticated tricks and became more dangerous. As a result, the Ministry of Public Security is determined to suppress this dangerous type of crime.

Statistics have showed that over 200,000 drug addicts have been listed under the management of functional forces.  Additionally, there are a large number of drug addicts unlisted, Minister To Lam revealed.

60 to 70 % of people detained in various prisons are related to drugs. Therefore, prevention and combat of drug-related crimes requires all agencies, branches, localities and the whole society to team up with the police to first curb the supply and reduce the demand for addictive substances.