BEIJING: Narcotics Control Board Secretary- General Permpong Chaovalit said that the Safe Mekong Operation Project had minimized and seriously controlled the movements of drug trafficking syndicates and smugglers and seen seized drugs declining.
The project was jointly launched by China, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
Permpong made the remarks while presiding over a senior official meeting on the operation. The meeting aimed to review the outcomes of the project implemented during Jan. 12 to March 12, 2015, and mull over the continued operations to be taken under the next phase of the Framework.
The achievements included the arrest of 3,398 alleged drugs traffickers with seizure of exhibits as 25,884,580 pills of Metamphetamine, 8153 kilograms of caffeine, 20 tons of Methylene Chloride, 10,300 kilograms of other chemical substances, 1,556 kilograms of heroin, and 179 kilograms of opium and so on. “If all these reactants and chemical substances are smuggled to the producing areas with completion, there would be 167,175,000 pills of Metamphetamine with total amount in 8,358,750,000 Thai baht,” Permpong said.
At the meeting, Permpong and his counterparts from other countries spoke highly of the initiative proposed by China in 2013.
An Guojun, secretary-general of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, said “The two safe Mekong joint operations on drug control showed us the Mekong River watershed region, as a great channel for drugs, drug precursors and funds to get in and out of the ‘Golden Triangle’ area, still has a frequent occurrence of drug criminal activities.”
An stressed that it is necessary to continue to fix and normalize the safe Mekong joint operation to deal with the severe drug situation. “We should improve the joint operation mechanism on drug enforcement and increase input as well as conduct actual joint drug enforcement cooperation in terms of intelligence communication, joint enforcement, major cases and open investigation, so that the complicated situations and serious challenges of the region posed by drug problems could be effectively dealt with,” he added.
The outcomes of the meeting will be submitted to the ministers supervising the narcotics control work of each country to consider the extension of the project at the upcoming ministerial meeting to be held in Chiang Mai late in April 2015.
