Son La (VNA) – The Border Guard High Command of the northern mountainous province ofSon La held a conference in Moc Chau on October 1 to review the implementationof the plan to combat drug-related crimes in border areas of Moc Chau and VanHo districts.

The event drew ActingPresident Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Commander of the Son La Border Guard HighCommand Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Secretary of the provincial PartyCommittee Hoang Van Chat, and representatives from the Police Department for Investigationof Drug-Related Crimes and other central and provincial departments andagencies.

Participants evaluatedthe results of the work over the six months since the plan 892/KH-BTL wasissued on March 26, 2018 by the Border Guard High Command, while working to drawinglessons from such experience.

Over the past few years,Son La, especially the districts of Moc Chau and Van Ho, has seen complicateddevelopments in drug transportation to Vietnam due to tough terrain and coordinationbetween local and Lao traffickers.

The drugs trafficked aremostly heroin transported from the Golden Triangle to Vietnam through Laos.

Amidst the situation,the Border Guard High Command built a response plan focusing on four majorsolutions, including reforming communications works; the comprehensiveimplementation of professional measures; the strengthening of border patrol andexamination; and the enhancement of international cooperation and coordinationamong forces.

In the past sixmonths, the provincial Border Guard High Command worked with their peers in theneighbouring province of Dien Bien and Lao police on 13 cases, arresting 34suspects and seizing 169 bricks of heroin, 65kg of crystal meth, 422,000tablets of meth, 17kg of opium, 18 guns, seven grenades, and seven automobiles.

Son La border guardscoordinated with the Lao side to finish five cases in the Houaphan province ofLaos, while cooperating with Dien Bien border guards to successfully deal withnine cases, arresting 11 suspects, 19 bricks of heroin, 15kg of crystal meth,39,000 tablets of meth, 5kg of opium, 20 bullets, and many other exhibits.

The efficiency ofcombating drug-related crime has been enhanced, while the coordination betweenborder guards and locals has become even stronger, greatly reducing activitiesof transporting drugs from the Golden Triangle to Houaphan and other borderingareas of Vietnam.

So far, activities bydrug rings and armed criminal organisations have decreased by up to 80 percent,significantly reducing the amount of drugs trafficked from Laos to Vietnam.

At the conference,Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh presented gifts to the Tan Xuan borderpost of Van Ho and the Long Sap border post of Moc Chau.

Lieutenant GeneralHoang Xuan Chien also presented certificates of merit to eight collectives withoutstanding performance in combating armed drug traffickers through the border.

The Vietnam Fund for theSupport of Children presented 200 million VND to poor children in Son La.

Earlier the same day,Acting President Thinh attended the inauguration of a government headquartersin Tan Xuan of Moc Chau, and presented five houses and breeding cows to policybeneficiaries families, as well as 200 scholarships to poor children in MocChau and Van Ho. –VNA