By Den Surin
Moneakseka Khmer
Translated from Khmer
Laos is launching a war against narcotics because the Lao people are facing the dangerous addiction problem. In the past, drugs entered Cambodia through Thailand; but after the Thai government waged its anti-narcotic war, drugs entered Cambodia through Laos instead. Moreover, drugs that came to Cambodia from Laos also went back into Thailand. This has led international institutions combating drugs and crime to designate Cambodia as a major drug distribution point.
Now that Vientiane has seen the danger that could come from drugs, it also has declared war on drugs because in Laos nowadays drugs can be bought like candies or cakes in most public places.
An anti-narcotic police officer at the Interior Ministry said that after Laos launched the anti-narcotic war, the drug traffickers have changed their tactics by starting to produce drugs inside Cambodia. However, they are producing them in the forests of the northeastern provinces only. After they have produced the drugs, some influential people would distribute them in the cities and smuggle them to other countries in the region.
In the past, drug traffickers produced drugs with modified equipment in mobile labs moving along the forested Cambodian-Thai border. However, because of the good cooperation of Thai border guards in crime suppression along the border, the producers fled from these border regions.
Now, there are reports that the drug merchants are producing drugs with homemade equipment in labs they move from place to place in the forests along the Cambodian-Lao border of northeastern Cambodia. Because the Lao border forces are easy to bribe and the communist government does not care much about the danger from drugs, the narcotic traders are doing whatever they please.
The anti-narcotic police officer said that in each mobile lab the evil traders could produce from 50,000 to 100,000 tablets of drugs a day. For this reason, hundreds of thousands of tablets of drugs are pouring into the cities everyday while the authorities can seize just 10,000 or 20,000 tablets a month, the rest slipping easily through the fingers of the competent authorities.
The Interior Ministry police officer said that drug suppression operations in Cambodia are nothing but a cosmetic veneer. There is no real intention to suppress drugs because the drug traffickers have already connected their networks with the powerful men of arms. In the future, Cambodia is not going to differ much from Burma when it comes to drugs.
Now that Vientiane has seen the danger that could come from drugs, it also has declared war on drugs because in Laos nowadays drugs can be bought like candies or cakes in most public places.
An anti-narcotic police officer at the Interior Ministry said that after Laos launched the anti-narcotic war, the drug traffickers have changed their tactics by starting to produce drugs inside Cambodia. However, they are producing them in the forests of the northeastern provinces only. After they have produced the drugs, some influential people would distribute them in the cities and smuggle them to other countries in the region.
In the past, drug traffickers produced drugs with modified equipment in mobile labs moving along the forested Cambodian-Thai border. However, because of the good cooperation of Thai border guards in crime suppression along the border, the producers fled from these border regions.
Now, there are reports that the drug merchants are producing drugs with homemade equipment in labs they move from place to place in the forests along the Cambodian-Lao border of northeastern Cambodia. Because the Lao border forces are easy to bribe and the communist government does not care much about the danger from drugs, the narcotic traders are doing whatever they please.
The anti-narcotic police officer said that in each mobile lab the evil traders could produce from 50,000 to 100,000 tablets of drugs a day. For this reason, hundreds of thousands of tablets of drugs are pouring into the cities everyday while the authorities can seize just 10,000 or 20,000 tablets a month, the rest slipping easily through the fingers of the competent authorities.
The Interior Ministry police officer said that drug suppression operations in Cambodia are nothing but a cosmetic veneer. There is no real intention to suppress drugs because the drug traffickers have already connected their networks with the powerful men of arms. In the future, Cambodia is not going to differ much from Burma when it comes to drugs.
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