Hanoi (VNA) – A Senior Officials’ Meeting in preparation for theASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters took place in Hanoi on October 17.
Addressing the event, head of the Ministry of PublicSecurity’s Drug Crime Investigation Police Department Maj. Gen. Pham Van Cac stressedthat the global drug situation is developing constantly with more and morecomplications.
He cited the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’sstatistics which showed that there are at least 250 million people, or 5percent of the world’s population, who use recreational drugs. In East andSoutheast Asia, over 3 million people use heroin and over 5 million usesynthetic drugs.
The Golden Triangle, which covers several ASEAN memberstates, remain a “hot spot” for opium growing and is emerging as a productioncentre for the world’s synthetic drugs, Cac stated.
He also pointed out some of the challenges for drug crimeprevention and control during the Fourth Industrial Revolution as criminals aretaking advantage of the development of science and technology to continuecriminal activities.
Acknowledging serious drug-related threats in the modernglobal context, the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters was set up in2012 and institutionalised in 2015, thus bringing cooperation in drugprevention and control between ASEAN member states to a new height and showingtheir strong commitments in addressing the problem, Cac emphasised.
Officer Cac stressed the need for ASEAN to increase theefficiency and quality of Senior Officials and Ministerial Meetings, keeping aclose watch on regional and global situations to update and adjust agendacontents and maintain the effective role of consultations and orientations ondrug prevention and control policies within the bloc.
In this issue, information is a core factor, he said,suggesting the countries promote the efficiency of information exchange andprocessing, as well as coordination in investigating and arresting suspectsrelated to drug production, smuggling, and transportation. –VNA
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An overview of the meeting (Source: VNA) 
