7th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters held virtually

The 7th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters (AMMD) was organized via videoconference on 14 October under the chair of Cambodia.
A Myanmar delegation led by Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing joined the event.
At the meeting, the Myanmar delegation leader Lieutenant-General Than Hlaing said the member countries were cooperating on drug control despite the challenges caused by COVID-19. The transnational gangs adopt the techniques in illegal drugs transportation and trade to change the routes and so not only ASEAN countries but also the world countries need to accelerate the cooperation. The government of Myanmar sets as a national duty to fight against drugs and currently implements the new five facts of the National Drug Control Policy.
In opium poppy cultivation, due to the cooperation of government and local people, and international organizations, the poppy production rate declines year by year. The cultivation rate in 2020 was 11 per cent, while the production rate dropped to 20 per cent. The country conducted 32 special anti-drug operations from 2003 to September 2021. The officials uncovered 5,087 drug cases and arrested 7,337 suspects together with the drugs from 1 January to 30 September 2021.
The Deputy Minister then highlighted the high illegal trade of precursors via border areas despite the effective crackdowns of Myanmar and solid cooperation of ASEAN member countries in controlling the precursor chemicals.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of ASEAN member countries and it discussed the matters of 41st and 42nd AMMDs, approved the mid-term reports of ASEAN Work Plan in Securing Communities Against Illicit Drugs (2016-2025) and ASEAN Cooperation Plan to Tackle Illicit Drug Production and Trafficking in the Golden Triangle 2020 – 2022, CND related matters and other ASEAN related matters.
Before the ministerial meeting, Police Brig-Gen Win Naing, Joint Secretary of Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control and Commander of Drug Enforcement Division joined the pre-coordination meeting held on 13 October. — MNA