Operation Mekong Dragon: Arrested nearly 100 drugs cases

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Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs gave a statement at the meeting. Photo: the Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department.

Attending the meeting were more than 30 delegates from Customs authorities of China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Asia/Pacific Regional Intelligence Liaison Office (RILO AP) of the World Customs Organization (WCO).

The operation Mekong Dragon was co-founded and operated by Vietnam Customs and China Customs since September 2018 and received great technical support by UNODC and RILO AP and participated by 6 Customs authorities in the Mekong subregion.

At the meeting, Deputy General Director Nguyen Cong Binh emphasized that the above figures show great efforts not only by the Customs authorities of Vietnam and China, but also show the significant contributions of each member agency in the Mekong sub-region, as well as the technical support by UNODC and RILO AP.Over 5 months of operation, the Operation has recorded nearly 100 drug-related arrests from member Customs authorities. At the same time, during the operation phase, there were 2 shared information cooperations, leading to successful arrests. 5 bilateral and multilateral meetings were held in Kunming, Shanghai, Xi'an, Hangzhou and Guangzhou (China) and this meeting was held in Danang.

According to UNODC's World Drug Report 2018, the amount of methamphetamine synthetic drugs seized in Southeast Asia has reached a record increase, up 700% compared to 2008.

The Golden Triangle hotspot in the Mekong Subregion is still a big area for heroin and synthetic drugs production as well as opium cultivation.

The UNODC’s report 2017 also showed that more than 190,000 people prematurely died related to drugs.

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And according to a survey by RILO A, 67% of Customs authorities in the region still consider the fighting against drug crimes as the highest priority task in control.

“The above figures show that we cannot stop at this meeting or operation, we need to strengthen cooperation more strongly in the future on a larger scale, in a more comprehensive and effective way in the fight against drug crime. I believe that at this meeting, besides evaluating of achievements in the recent time, our important task is to continue discussing new direction and coordination,” - Deputy Director General Nguyen Cong Binh emphasized.

Deputy Director General said that Vietnam Customs desired to continue to receive the cooperation and support of the Customs authorities of member countries and international organizations to obtain many greater achievements in the fight against drug crime and transnational crime.