(Eagle News Service) – ASEAN leaders stressed the importance of a “Drug-Free ASEAN” as various heads of anti-drug agencies and their respective delegations recently convened in Jakarta to tackle the issue of the drug menace in the region.
The leaders of various anti-drug agencies in the ASEAN region also stressed the need to prevent drug syndicates and other organized crimes from taking advantage of the ASEAN regional integration in 2015.
“As organized criminal groups and drug traffickers are taking on a more global perspective in their operations, we must ensure that our responses to drug trafficking are equally innovative, equally prompt to adapt to changing and challenging circumstances, and equally global in our outlook,” ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said in his statement at the Third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters held yesterday in Jakarta.
Minh also said that the ASEAN’s regional vision of ASEAN being free from the menace of illegal drugs is further strengthened when the various ASEAN ministers attending the ministerial conference agreed with the regional aspiration of a “Drug-Free ASEAN.” This signified ASEAN’s “resilience and commitment towards a zero-tolerance approach to protect the people and communities from illicit drugs.”
In his opening remarks, Police Commissioner General Anang Iskandar, Head of the National Narcotics Board of Indonesia and Chair of the Meeting, emphasized the need to prevent drug syndicates and transnational crime organizations from taking advantage of ASEAN regional integration and connectivity. Despite the progress and achievements in the implementation of the ASEAN Work Plan 2009-2015, ASEAN still needs to do more and further strengthen its collaboration in addressing the threat and abuse of illicit drugs, he said.
In a news release from the ASEAN Secretariat news, it said illicit drugs represent a multi-dimensional threat that requires actions not only by governments but also by industries and other relevant actors.
ASEAN Secretary-General Minh said that actions at the national and regional levels should be in tandem in terms of promoting public health, prevention, treatment and economic and social progress.
In a statement, ministers from various ASEAN member countries said they acknowledged that regional integration can facilitate illicit activity and can expose ASEAN to a greater number of drug syndicates and activity that require enhanced cooperation and well-coordinated national and regional responses.
The Ministers also lauded the successful collaboration among the ASEAN Airport Interdiction Task Force (AAITF) which resulted in the apprehension of drug syndicates through control delivery and sharing of information.
In charting their future cooperation, the Ministers approved the Concept Paper on the Institutionalization of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters in order to strengthen regional collaboration against drugs at the highest levels. (with a report from ASEAN Secretariat News)