Extra efforts needed to curb flow of drugs into Vietnam

Speaking at a training conference on drug prevention in the central province of Ha Tinh on May 28, deputy head of the Investigation Police Department on Drug-related Crimes Nguyen Dich Nam said the drug crime situation in Vietnam is developing unpredictably, due to impacts from developments in the world and region, especially in neighbouring nations.

In the first five months of this year, police forces seized 7 tonnes of drugs of all kinds, while the figure for the whole of 2018 was only 2.2 tonnes.

According to Colonel Nam, Vietnam is not a drug producing country. Drugs enter the country through four ways, with 90 percent brought in by road (from China, Laos and Cambodia) and the remaining by air (Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai international airports), sea (major ports in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City) and post.

The Vietnam-Laos border continues to be a hotspot for drug trafficking and transportation, Nam stated.

He said Vietnam is considering revising regulations that hamper the fight against drugs, especially the Law on Drug Prevention and Control.

His department is also proposing amendments to the Prime Minister’s Decision No.133 on coordination between customs, defence, police and coast guard forces in fighting drugs, he added.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently ordered ministries, agencies and provincial and municipal people’s committees to carry out the action month for drug prevention in June.

Communication work is the centre of the month to raise public awareness of the Law on Drug Prevention and Control, and consequences of using, producing and trading drugs, particularly methamphetamine, marijuana, ketamine and LSD, which have become popular among youths.

In 2018, law enforcement handled 24,500 drug-related criminal cases and arrested more than 30,000 people. The Ministry of Public Security’s statistics showed there were more than 224,000 drug addicts on record, though the actual figure is believed to be much higher.