International Cooperation on Drug Control

By staff reporter DENG SHULIN

Yunnan has a 4,000-kilometer-border with the Golden Triangle. For many years, the Chinese government and police have cooperated with countries surrounding the region in regional and bilateral drug control. They operate under different operative mechanisms that include the Six Country (Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) Sub Regional Action Plan for Drug Control, ASEAN + China Drug Control Action Program and a multilateral cooperative system on drug control involving China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and India.

Within these frameworks, China has developed its cooperation with these countries and, along with Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, has conducted drug investigations in the Mekong River valley. China has signed the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Drug Control Cooperation with Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, and control in these countries has made substantial progress. Cooperation includes information sharing, joint investigation of drug cases, joint crackdown actions and training of law enforcement personnel.

Last year, Chinese, Myanmese, and Laotian police jointly conducted 38 drug law enforcement operations in the frontier region, destroying three drug centers and seizing 281 kilograms of heroin, eight kilograms of methamphetamine and 429 kilograms of opium.

The Chinese government has also strengthened cooperation with the US, Philippines, Japan, ROK, and the Netherlands on information sharing and joint drug control operations. The latest fruits of international cooperation took the form of a crackdown on a cross-country drug trafficking network by Chinese and Philippines law enforcement organs and the arrest of five suspects. In Manila, 296 kilograms of methamphetamine worth 100 million yuan were seized and 1.97 million yuan in drug money confiscated.