Officials of Vietnam and Thailand met in Ho Chi Minh City on
Sept. 6 to seek measures to step up the fight against drug-related
crimes.
The participants shared information about
drug crimes in their respective countries, reviewed the results of
cooperative efforts and discussed aspects of cooperation planned for the
future.
While addressing the conference, Major
General Cao Minh Nhan, Deputy General Director of the General Criminal
Prevention Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security,
re-affirmed Vietnam ’s strong commitment to cooperating with Thailand
in this field.
Nhan also applauded the close and
effective coordination of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board of
Thailand (ONCB) in combating drug crimes.
Gen.
Krisna Polananta, Secretary General of the ONCB, said the smuggling of
medicine for treating colds that contains the addictive substance,
pseudoephedrine, to the Golden Triangle has been on the rise.
He requested concerned Vietnamese agencies closely monitor suspect
shipments to the country and inform the ONCB in order to jointly deal
with these cases.
The Thai official also proposed
Vietnam update his agency on suspects of African origin, saying that
tightened cooperation is a vital factor in the fight against drug
crimes.
Vietnam and Thailand signed a
cooperation agreement on drug control in 2001 and since then the two
nations have organised a range of activities to share experiences in
drug prevention, detoxification and management of former addicts./.
