Vietnam and Laos promote cooperation in prevention and control of drug crime
PSNews - The Bilateral Ministerial Meeting on Cooperation in Prevention and Control of Drug Crime between Vietnam and Laos took place on September 11 in Hanoi under the Chair of Senior Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong, Deputy Minister of Public Security, member of the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control of Vietnam and Head of the Vietnamese delegation.
The Lao delegation was led by Lieutenant General Somvang Thammasith, Deputy Minister of Public Security of Laos.
The Vietnam – Laos borderline, which is 2,340 kilometers long, running through 10 provinces of each country, has still been a fierce front against drug-related crimes.
From December 2018 to July 2019, functional forces of border provinces of the two countries regularly exchanged intelligence, contributing to the successes in eradicating 12 hotspots of drug crime. They successfully investigated 128 specialized cases, cracked down on 70 drug trafficking rings, arrested 4,471 suspects and seized a large number of drugs of various types, including over 156 kg of heroin and 28.475 kg of marijuana, and numerous exhibits.
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| An overview of the meeting. |
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Le Quy Vuong emphasized that with both opportunities and challenges, functional forces of the two countries should actively grasp situational developments, detect and handle any acts of illicitly producing, trading, transporting and stockpiling drugs, particularly synthetic drugs.
Deputy Minister Le Quy Vuong also asked functional forces of the two sides to promote coordination in disseminating laws and harms of drugs along the shared border, establish and maintain fast and effective information exchange mechanisms via hotlines or liaison officers, conduct more joint patrols and launch joint attacks on cross-border drug trafficking rings.
For his part, Lieutenant General Somvang Thammasith underscored the importance of the meeting, saying that it would contribute to strengthening the friendship and cooperation between the two countries and two peoples.
At the meeting, the two sides also approved a draft bilateral deal between Vietnam and Laos on cooperation in controlling drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors.
