The Fifth Meeting of the AIPA
Fact-Finding Committee (AIFOCOM) to Combat the Drug Menace was held from 22 –
25 June 2008 in Singapore.
The Fifth Meeting of AIFOCOM was
attended by delegations from AIPA Member Countries and Special Observers. The Philippines and Myanmar had sent apologies for not
being able to attend the Meeting.
The Opening Ceremony of the Fifth
Meeting of AIFOCOM to Combat the Drug Menace was held on Monday, 23 June 2008
at 10.15 am at the Auditorium of Parliament House.
In his Opening Address, Mr.
Abdullah Tarmugi, President of AIPA and Speaker of the Singapore Parliament,
traced back the efforts of ASEAN in combating the drug menace to the 1970s and
noted that ASEAN is already at its halfway mark to its vision of a Drug Free
ASEAN 2015. He noted the role played by AIFOCOM in contributing towards the
region’s collective efforts against the drug scourge and stressed the
importance for AIFOCOM to continue to seek creative ways to enhance cooperation
and exchange of information with the other relevant ASEAN bodies.
The President of AIPA also drew
attention to the recent increases in opium poppy cultivation in the region, as
well as the emergence of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) as a threat in the
region. In this regard, he called on ASEAN Member Countries to continue to
stand united and respond resolutely in order to suppress and eradicate the drug
problem.
Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee, Senior
Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs delivered the Keynote Address. In
his speech, Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee shared with the meeting Singapore’s
concerted anti-drug strategy, which comprises a multi-pronged approach targeted
at reducing both drug supply and demand. While Singaporeis not a producer of precursor chemicals, Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee said that Singapore has
put in place measures to closely monitor the movement of listed precursor
chemicals. At the international level, Singaporealso works closely with
other countries to prevent the illegal diversion of precursors by instituting
procedures such as Pre-Export No Objection Letter and Import Authorization. In
addition, the recommendations made by the International Narcotics Control Board
concerning the limited international special surveillance list of non scheduled
substances have also been implemented by Singapore.
On the regional front, Assoc Prof
Ho Peng Kee noted that while current international regulation on precursors has
made an impact in hindering the production of ATS, more needs to be done as
diversion methods have evolved. To mitigate the situation, he urged ASEAN
Member Countries to develop and strengthen their laws and monitoring mechanisms
for precursor chemicals and to enhance communication between the relevant
authorities and the industry players so that the private sector could act as
additional pair of “eyes” to monitor the movement of precursor chemicals and
alert the authorities to any suspicious transactions.
In intensifying efforts to
address the problems caused by ATS, Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee reminded Member
Countries of the continued threat from plant-based drugs such as cannabis and
opiates. In particular, the illicit cultivation of cannabis in the region is
noted and he called on Member Countries to continue keeping a tight rein on the
issue.
Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee also
highlighted the importance of sustaining alternative development projects to
prevent farmers from going back to illicit crop cultivation. He cited the
success achieved by Thailand’s Doi Tung Development
Project as and example, and underscored the importance of moving toward
cultivating strategic partnerships with the private sector and civil society in
order to support socio-economic development in areas where illicit drugs are
produced.
A presentation was made by Mr. Vu
Quang Vinh, Deputy Director of the Standing Office on Drugs Control of Vietnam
and Representative from the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD), on
the ‘Strategies and Key Milestones in the Drug Free ASEAN 2015 Roadmap’.
In his presentation, Mr. Vu Quang
Vinh reported a heightened sense of need among the ASEAN Member States at the
operational and programmatic level to work together and meet the goals and
targets that the region has set for both Supply and Demand Reduction. For
example, the establishment of the Border Liaison Offices (BLO) mechanism is evidence
of the region’s cohesive response to address the problem posed by international
crime syndicates.
The ASOD report pointed out that
while opium cultivation has been reduced significantly, there remains the
threat that the problem could re-emerge if anti-drug efforts are not sustained.
However, the ASEAN Secretariat noted that ASEAN is far better prepared to
respond to the challenges now than before. Specifically, there is now a clear
understanding of the need to address the issue of drugs in a comprehensive
manner with equal emphasis on supply reduction and demand reduction.
The ASOD report provided an
update on the issue discussed at the Meeting of the ASEAN Senior Officials on
Drug Matters (ASOD). Specifically, ASOD has been tasked to develop an ASOD Work
Plan that will incorporate the Work Plans to be developed by the respective
Working Groups in ASOD based on the ASEAN-China Cooperative Operations in
Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD) Plan of Action and the Work Programme of
the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC). The ASEAN
Secretariat would be compiling the draft ASOD Work Plan for consideration and
endorsement at the forthcoming 29th Meeting of ASOD scheduled in
Brunei Darussalam from 24 to 28 August 2008.
In addition, ASOD also
highlighted the important role played by ACCORD in contributing to regional
efforts against illicit drugs and provided an updated of the discussion on
sustaining the ACCORD Mechanism. Specifically at the 4th ACCORD
Joint Task Force Meeting held on 23 August 2007 in Hanoi, Vietnam,
it was agreed that ACCORD projects would continue to be funded by contribution
from Member States and coordinated by ASEAN Secretariat should the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) terminate its monitoring project.
The ASOD report provided an
update of ASEAN cooperative activities with the Plus Three Countries [China, Japanand Republic of Korea (ROK)]
under the ambit of the SOMTC Working Groups. In particular, the first stage of
the ASEAN-ROK Knowledge Transfer on Narcotics Crime, which is a 3-year
cooperative activity with ASEAN proposed by the ROK, had been implemented in
Lao PDR in 2007.
In addition, Mr. Keo Chhea,
Coordinator of the Specialized Programmes Unit, ASEAN Secretariat, made the
following proposals:
(b)
urge ASEAN Member States to ratify the Treaty of Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLAT);
(d)
encourage Members of Parliament to assist in raising
civic awareness on the danger of drug abuse in their individual constituency.
Cambodia shared that Phnom Penh has the most number of drug addicts in the country, followed by the border
provinces. ATS is the drug of choice among the drug addicts in Cambodia,
followed by heroin and small amounts of marijuana.
In general, drug related arrests
and seizures declined in 2007 as compared to the figures for the year 2006.
Specifically, the decrease in the number of trafficking offences in 2007 is
attributed to the on-going campaign to raise awareness about drug abuse among
Cambodians, as well as efforts to further develop treatment facilities for drug
addicts. Nevertheless, Cambodia stated that foreign organized criminal groups have been using the country as a
base for large-scale production of synthetic drugs, as well as transit point to
traffic drugs from the Golden Triangle area to the international drug market.
The National Assembly of Cambodia
ratified the 1972 United Nations Protocol amending the 1961 United Nations
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 2007.
Cambodia continues to implement its
national plan on narcotics control in 2008 with a focus on demand reduction,
supply reduction, strengthening capacity building in drug law enforcement and
expansion of international cooperation.
In enhancing its efforts to
eradicate illicit drug trafficking, Indonesia has launched its national
strategy on prevention and eradication of the abuse and illicit production and
distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which consists of
the following:
- Demand reduction;
- Supply reduction;
- Research and development including human resources;
- Institutional and structural development;
- Strengthening national legislation;
- Networking with civil society; and
- Strengthening international cooperation.
The number of drug related cases
in Indonesia n 2007 showed a sharp increase in comparison with the years before. There were
3,617 in 2001 and 22,630 in 2007. Similarly, the number of criminal suspects of
drug abuse in 2007 also increased. There were 4,924 suspects in 2001 and 36,169
in 2007.
Cannabis is the most abused drug
in Indonesia.
To discourage the cultivation of cannabis, alternative development programmes
in Indonesia were initiated in 2005 during a national seminar on “The Prospect of Developing
and Implementing Alternative Development Policy to Combat the Illegal Cannabis
Planting”. Partnerships with international organizations such as the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime play an important role in providing
assistance to develop alternative development programmes in Indonesia.
Indonesia has turned from a transit
and destination country for Ecstasy and methamphetamine into one of the largest
producers of the drugs. In this regard, Indonesia has begun the
implementation of a number of policies as recommended by the National Action
Plan, such as establishing Provincial and District National Boards equipped
with the capacity to carry out drug control programmes and raising awareness
among the people at the local level.
In addition, Indonesia also
took steps to enhance its legislative framework on precursor control. In 2007
during a joint inter-departmental meeting between the Ministry of Health and
the Department of Law and Human Rights, a draft government regulation on
precursor control was proposed. The draft regulation has been submitted to the
Secretariat Office of the President and is currently pending final approval
from the President. The Regulation will have the effect of further
strengthening Indonesia’s
national framework and mechanism for precursor control.
Since mid-1990s, ATS abuse has
emerged as the most serious and fastest growing drug threat to the country, in
particular among the youth. Although ATS seizure fell from 1,755,989 tablets in
2006 to 1,272,815 tablets in 2007, the large number of ATS addicts in the
country remains a huge concern.
To address the problem of
narcotic drugs production, trade and abuse, the Lao Government, through the
National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision (LCDC), has implemented
the following measures:
- Eradication of opium poppy cultivation;
- Actions against ATS abuse;
- Treatment and Rehabilitation of drug addicts;
- Building legal basis and law enforcement; and
- International cooperation.
Alternative development in Laosis based
on a strong community-centered approach that builds on existing community
skills and assets while promoting and ensuring community ownership and self
help. This includes the following:
- Infrastructure improvement;
- Providing access to health, education and safe
water supply;
- Micro credit; and
- Replacement of opium cultivation with other cash
crop such as rice, maize and livestock production.
In February 2006, Laos officially
declared that it was free from opium cultivation. However, there are many
obstacles present that affect the successful implementation of alternative
development in Laos.
These obstacles include difficulties in reaching some of the villages due to
their remoteness, difficulties in employing legal measures due to the lack of
funds and resources, as well as the lack of public support for implementation
of these programmes. Without a sustainable alternative livelihood, there is a
concern that 50% of ex-opium farmers could return to opium poppy cultivation.
The Lao Government recognizes the
importance of sustaining alternative development and encouraging the public to
participate in these programmes. Lao will continue in its efforts to provide an
alternative livelihood for opium farmers in order to discourage them from
returning to opium cultivation.
The “Dadah” (illicit drugs)
problem remains as one of the most serious problems in Malaysia. To a
certain extent, Malaysia continues to be a transit country for drugs, particularly heroin No. 4, coming
from the Golden Triangle en route to destinations abroad.
The total number of addicts
detected in 2007 was 14,489, out of which 6,679 or 46.10% were new cases and
7,810 or 53.9% were relapse cases. There was an overall decline of 36.4%
compared to 2006. On average, 557 new cases are detected monthly.
Heroin/morphine continues to be the drug of choice among addicts in Malaysia,
followed by cannabis and syabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride).
Seizures of most drugs in 2007
increased as compared to the year 2006. In particular, the most significant
increase came from seizures of psychotropic pills. 455,407 tablets were seized
in 2007 compared to 65,840 tablets seized in 2006.
To give fresh impetus to combat
the drug problem, the National Drug Council was replaced by the Cabinet
Committee on the Eradication of Drugs chaired by the Prime Minister. Under the
Cabinet Committee is a separate Action Committee and three sub-Committees
focusing on three core areas, namely, Preventive Education and Publicity, Laws
and Treatment and Rehabilitation. The overall aim of these committees is to
oversee and review the implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy and
to ensure effective implementation.
In 2007, greater focus was given
to relapse prevention in the community. Towards this end, apart from
strengthening community-based programmes through the service centres, a
comprehensive range of activities and programmes were carried out. These
include 382 seminars and motivational courses for ex-addicts, 189 programmes
involving families and 401 outreach programmes.
The Malaysian Government will
continue to improve its machinery to combat the drug problem. It believes that
the only way to solve the drug problem is through a multi-disciplinary approach
and in partnership with all sectors of society in the country and by
strengthening cooperation with neighbouring countries.
Singapore has maintained its status
as a relatively drug-free society and continues to adopt a firm stand against
drug trafficking. The number of drug abuse arrests has fallen by about 64% from
6,165 in 1994 to 2,211 in 2007. The drug abuse problem is largely confined to
repeat abusers, who made up 76% of total abusers arrested in 2007. The majority
(or 38%) of drug abusers arrested in 2007 were buprenorphine abusers, followed
by heroin abusers at 31%. Synthetic drugs, which refer to ‘Ecstasy’,
methamphetamine, ketamine and nimetazepam, accounted for 26% of drug abusers
arrested.
Singapore adopts a multi-pronged
approach targeted at reducing both drug supply and demand. The approach comprises
tough legislation, vigorous enforcement, intensive preventive drug education,
coordinated rehabilitation and aftercare.
Alternative development is not
relevant in Singapore’s
context as there is no cultivation or production of narcotic crops in the
country. In this regard, Singapore shared its legislative and operational strategies on precursor control.
Singapore’s key success factors in
containing the spread of drug abuse are the Singapore Government’s strong
political will to fight drug abuse, the multi-pronged approach in combating
drugs, a supportive community and good cooperation with its regional and
international partners in fighting drugs.
The drug control strategy of Thailand stems
from the idea of disconnecting drug demand from drug supply. Adhering to the
principle of “addicts are patients who are in need of treatment while
traffickers are those who must be punished under the judicial process”, the
Thai Government introduced the strategy titled “3 Minuses, 3 Pluses and 3
Focuses” as the national guideline to address the re-emerging drug problem.
In 2008, the Thai Government also
launched the Operational Plan on People Alliance against Drug with the aim to
reduce illegal drug use and eliminate the drug threat. The general objective is
for each province to reduce the number of drug dealers, drug users and risk
groups/factors as much as possible. The operational Plan would run from 1 April
to 30 September 2008.
In 2007, the total area under
opium poppy cultivation in Thailand was at an estimated 231 hectares, a slight increase from the estimated 157
hectares in 2006. Although the average opium yield stayed at 15.6 kg/hectares,
the potential production of opium in 2007 rose to about 3.6 tons compared to
2.46 tons in 2006. This led to greater efforts from the authorities concerned to
introduce alternative development programmes in remote areas in Northern Thailand, where opium poppy is cultivated.
Thailand continues to be one of the
main transit countries for the trafficking of heroin from the Golden Triangle
to global markets. However in 2007, heroin supply from the Golden Crescent exceeded that from the
Golden Triangle. In particular, Southeast Asian women were often exploited by
West African drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle heroin from the Golden
crescent to Asian markets via Thailand,
India and Malaysia.
Efforts to eradicate and suppress
the cultivation of marijuana in Thailand over the last 20 years have dramatically reduced the cultivation in Thailand. Most
of the marijuana is now brought into Thailandfrom neighbouring countries.
While some are for domestic consumption, most are transported to Malaysiavia
the Thailand-Malaysia border before they are transported to the European
market. There are recent increases in the amount of marijuana smuggled into Thailand. An
average of 10 metric tons of marijuana is seized in Thailand every year.
In 2007, there were 106,617 drug
offenders and 97,573 drug cases compared to 90,845 drug offenders and 82,624
drug cases in 2006. Seizures of methamphetamine or Yaba, methamphetamine hydrochloride
or ICE, Ecstasy and heroin saw an increase in 2007 compared to 2006. Seizures
of other drugs like cocaine, ketamine and marijuana fell in 2007 compared to
the year before.
Thailandis not a chemical
producing country. Most chemicals and precursors are imported into Thailand for
medical and industrial purposes. To control the diversion of precursor and
essential chemicals, the Precursor Chemical Control Committee was set up in
1993 to formulate a national strategy on precursor control, supervise precursor
control and implement and integrate the efforts made by precursor control
agencies. In addition to the 23 chemicals listed in Table I and Table II of the
1988 UN Convention, Thailandalso monitors 8 additional
precursors.
There are currently two non-governmental
agencies playing lead roles in alternative development work in Thailand,
including the Royal Project Foundation and the Mae Fah Luang Foundation. In
2008, Thailand and Myanmar agreed to cooperate in a new project on
alternative development to be carried out in Ban Yin, a southern Shan State of Myanmar.
As a result of implementing the
National Drug Control Master Plan 2006-2010, the drug abuse situation in Vietnam continues to remain under control. The number of drug cases and drug offenders
continues to fall in 2007. However, the drug abuse situation and scale of the
drug activities in Vietnam remains a huge concern.
More than 10,000 drug cases were
detected and about 15,000 drug offenders were arrested in Vietnam in
2007. Opium, heroin and ATS continue to be smuggled into Vietnamfrom
the Golden Triangle. ATS is also smuggled across the border into Vietnam. While
the cases of cross-border smuggling of ATS and the amount of ATS smuggled in
each case have increased, the number and amount of psychotropic substances
trafficked into Vietnam in 2007 fell compared to that for 2006. There has also been an increase in the
trafficking of precursors from border provinces into Vietnam. Opium and heroin
trafficking cases from neighbouring countries into Vietnamhave also increased.
There were about 178,305
registered drug abusers in Vietnam as at the end of 2007, compared to 160,226 registered drug abusers the year
before. However, the number of drug users in Vietnam in 2007 increased by 11.28%
compared to 2006. Majority (53.82%) of the registered drug abusers in Vietnamare
unemployed. Males account for 95.67% of the total number of registered drug
abusers in Vietnam.
Heroin remains the top drug of choice, followed by opium, cannabis and ATS.
Cannabis production and
trafficking has emerged as an unusual phenomenon in Vietnam in 2007. Specifically,
large-scale cultivation of cannabis was detected in some of the Northern and
Southern provinces. Cannabis is cultivated in Vietnamfor cannabis seeds, which
are then exported to other countries.
The implementation of the Drug
Control Policy continues to achieve significant results in 2007, in terms of
garnering support from the society and mobilizing the political system to
participate in drug control activities. However, challenges still remain as the
modus operandi for drug trafficking
becomes more complicated. Vietnam is also faced with the challenge of providing drug treatment and rehabilitation
for the drug users.
Brunei Darussalam reported that a
total of 732 drug-related arrests were made in 2007, of which, 394 (53.83%)
were new cases, and the remainder, 338 (46.17%) were repeat cases. The most
common offence committed is the consumption of illicit drugs followed by
possession of utensils for drug abuse and possession of controlled drugs.
Methamphetamine and cannabis remain the top drugs of choice in Brunei
Darussalam. In 2007, 245.36 grams of methamphetamine and 48.883 grams of
cannabis were seized.
Drugs continue to be trafficked
into Brunei Darussalam either by land, air or by sea. In order to reduce the
flow of drugs into the country, law enforcement efforts in Brunei Darussalam
continues to be aimed at strengthening drug trafficking interdiction along the
border areas.
In the area of demand reduction,
Brunei Darussalam continues to promote and disseminate its anti-drug message to
the public through advocacy and information programmes via the mass-media.
School talks continue to be the
main thrust of the preventive drug education programme carried out by Narcotic
Control Bureau (NCB). In 2007, staff of NCB visited a total of 78 schools and
delivered talks to some 11,500 students.
Recognizing the importance of
cooperating with other countries to fight the drug menace, Brunei Darussalam
has strengthened its anti-drug effort and collaboration with its counterparts
through various means, including the exchange of information on drug crime,
joint cooperation in training and seminars, sharing of anti-drug experiences
and good practices.
Brunei Darussalam will continue
to foster high levels of cooperation with its regional and international drug
enforcement counterparts to continuously produce effective results and maintain
a tough stance in the intervention and eradication of illicit drug activities.
The Meeting agreed that, to move
closer to the vision of a Drug-Free ASEAN, more needs to be done in the
following areas:
(iii)
enhancing partnerships among the public sector, private
sector and community groups;
(v)
strengthening cross-sectoral linkages to improve
coordination among existing regional and extra-regional mechanism.
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IMPORTANT
AIPA EVENTS 2007
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