Responding to National Day for Drug Prevention and Control (June 26): Resolutely fight against drug crimes

Over the past years, the provincial police force has developed plans and implemented many solutions, promptly detected, fought, and solved many cases and related subjects related to the illegal use, purchase, sale, and transportation of drugs.

Responding to National Day for Drug Prevention and Control (June 26): Resolutely fight against drug crimes Police force checked the seized drugs.

Sophisticated and cunning methods

Thanh Hoa province has 213.6 km of border running through 49 villages, 16 communes of 5 districts adjacent to 3 districts of Hua Phan province (Laos); there are 3 border gates and hundreds of small roads, trails across the border; rugged mountainous terrain, difficult to travel, residents are mainly ethnic minorities with difficult economic life, low education level, and kinship with ethnic groups of Laos. These are favorable conditions for criminals to transport drugs across the border into Vietnam.

Regarding the peripheral situation, Hua Phan province (Laos) has many complex drug hotspots such as the villages: Kham Nang, Na Ham, Pieng Can... which are drug transit areas from Vientiane, Bo Keo (Laos), the "Golden Triangle" area to penetrate into the interior. This is the route that is directly under pressure from the situation of illegal drug production and trafficking of the "Golden Triangle" area into the interior of Vietnam, which is concentrated in 5 border districts of Thanh Hoa province.

Inland, drug crimes from Nghe An, Ha Tinh and other southern provinces illegally transport drugs through Highway 1A and Ho Chi Minh Road to the northern provinces and vice versa. Drugs from Son La and Hoa Binh provinces entering Thanh Hoa are still complicated, mainly heroin, ketamine, opium, and "candy".

The methods of drug criminals are becoming more sophisticated, cunning, and closed, mainly through blood relations within the family, relatives, and close disciples. In addition to the common, traditional methods such as receiving money in one place, delivering goods in another, or driving a motorbike while delivering goods, there is now a situation where drugs are transported by air, drugs are hidden by subjects abroad in packages sent back to the country under the disguise of functional food boxes, cosmetics, etc., then hired express delivery companies, shippers to transport and sell. At the same time, there is a situation where drug criminals use high technology, buy and sell transactions on the internet, through social networking applications such as Facebook, Zalo, Viber, etc. and pay through bank accounts not in the names of the subjects... these methods are all aimed at dealing with subjective awareness when discovered and arrested, making it very difficult for the investigation and handling process.

Drug criminals are becoming more and more reckless, ready to fight back against the authorities when discovered and arrested. Most drug criminal rings use hot weapons (guns, grenades, knives...), even raising wild animals to guard and fight back against the authorities when discovered and arrested.

Resolutely focus on the fight

Faced with the above situation, the Provincial Police force has proactively grasped the situation, advised the Party Committee and the government to step up the work of preventing and combating drug-related crimes; advised the Provincial Police Department to direct and deploy plans and solutions to effectively combat drug crimes in the area. In addition, the police force has coordinated with functional forces to proactively exchange information and documents to serve the work of preventing, combating and handling drug crime lines, subjects and hotspots operating between provinces and across the country; continuously launched high-point campaigns to attack and suppress crimes and social evils, eradicate many complicated hotspots, and arrest many criminals. Organize to grasp the situation of the subjects and create records to send the subjects to educational institutions, reform schools, and compulsory drug rehabilitation, reducing the risk and factors of crime...

Along with that, the police force in the province has coordinated with branches and organizations in the area to effectively implement the drug addiction treatment project at home and in the community; widely launched the movement "All people protect national security", associated with organizing officials, civil servants, public employees, union members, union members and people to sign commitments; manage and educate husbands, children, and relatives in the family not to commit crimes and social evils related to drugs. Build and replicate advanced models, good, creative, effective and practical ways in the fight against crime at the grassroots level. Through the movements, the effectiveness of the security and order steering committees of communes and towns as well as the roles and responsibilities of village and hamlet chiefs, prestigious people in clans and residential areas have provided many important sources of information to help the police force effectively fight against criminal activities and drug evils. At the same time, officers and soldiers continue to closely monitor key routes and areas, grasp the situation of drug-related crime activities; regularly consolidate and supplement documents and records of subjects to promptly detect and effectively combat drug crimes.

According to statistics, in the first 6 months of 2023, the Provincial Police force coordinated with units and functional forces to fight and arrest 316 cases, 622 subjects with acts of buying, selling, transporting and illegally storing drugs. Typically, on May 8, 2023, through the work of grasping the situation and establishing Project 424T, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department coordinated with the Drug Crime Investigation Department, Ministry of Public Security, Muong Lat District Police, Provincial Border Guard and Thanh Hoa Customs Department to catch red-handed Vang A Tung, in Sai Khao village, Muong Ly commune (Muong Lat) illegally transporting 14 kg of synthetic drugs from Laos to Thanh Hoa for consumption. This is the leader of the drug trafficking and illegal transportation ring on the Vietnam - Laos border into Thanh Hoa province. Expanding the investigation, the police force arrested two other subjects including Nguyen Minh Phong, born in 1993 and Nguyen Thanh Tung, born in 1992, both residing in Tan Uyen town, Binh Duong province...

To contribute to preventing, fighting, controlling and reducing drug crimes and evils, the police force in the province is continuing to promote information and propaganda about drugs, their harmful effects and ways to identify drug addicts in the area, considering propaganda work as a key task to raise awareness in the community. Directing the grassroots police force to strengthen inspection work, grasp the situation of subjects, step up campaigns, arrest subjects trafficking, storing and illegally using drugs. Implement measures to educate and reform subjects showing signs of being involved in drug evils. Regularly review and count drug addicts and suspected drug addicts to create records to send addicts to education, reformation and compulsory drug rehabilitation centers, gradually control and push drug evils out of the area, bringing a peaceful life to the people.

Article and photos: Quoc Huong

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