Kingdom, China expand drug cooperation to fight trafficking
MEAS Virith, the secretary-general of the General Secretariat of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), said Cambodia and China have agreed to expand cooperation in the control and prevention of illicit substances, as well as crack down on drugs from the Golden Triangle area.
Virith said the 8th ChinaCambodia Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation held in China was attended by senior NACD officials.
The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in drug control, as well as strengthen ties in preventing and cracking down on trafficking, he added.
Virith said Cambodia and China, as well as other countries in the Mekong region, are affected by criminals transporting drugs from the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
This required the two nations to expand greater efforts in cooperation and mutual support to prevent drug trafficking from the area and to destroy organised drugs rings.
“Our two countries are being threatened by the criminals who produce drugs in the Golden Triangle and traffic them across our nations.
“So we have to jointly prevent trafficking from the Golden Triangle area so that drugs no longer threaten our people, and that the activities of drug traffickers cannot spread, including by cracking down on the use of drugs and narrowing their markets,” Virith said.
He said the Chinese had trained Cambodian law enforcement officials in tackling drugs and provided resources while exchanging information and the results of drug crackdown initiatives, as well as other activities.
The president of the China Drug Control Foundation said Cambodia had been provided with initial drug testing services worth 500,000 yuan ($71,500).
“The meeting rotates annually and focuses on major tasks such as the sharing of information regarding drugs and cooperation in law enforcement,” Virith said.
The bilateral meeting was attended by representatives from relevant Cambodian ministries and institutions, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, the General Commissariat of National Police, the General Department of Customs and Excise of Cambodia and the National Military Police, he said.
Chinese participants included Liang Yun, the director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Narcotics Control Bureau, and other government representatives, Virith said.
Cambodia is to host the 9th meeting next year.