Vientiane (VNA) – Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Ministerof Public Security General Vilay Lakhamfong has announced that his country willcontinue to implement the national programme on drug prevention and controluntil 2025 in the context of complicated drug trafficking situation in theborder areas.

Reporting on the outcomes of the programme at the ongoingsixth session of the ninth National Assembly of Laos, General Vilay Lakhamfongsaid that since August 2021, Lao authorities busted 10,843 drug-related cases,arrested 15,966 suspects, including 324 foreigners, and seized a large amountof meth and many types of drug precursors.

He attributed the results to the public security force’sefforts to popularise the harms of drugs, promulgate and amend laws and legaldocuments, improve the efficiency of management, direction and implementationof anti-drug regulations, and strengthen cooperation with international organisationsand regional countries in preventing and combating drug-related crimes.

According to the official, the Lao Government considers the drug fight as a hard and long-term battle and the most urgent task currently.

In 2021, in the face of increasingly complicated situationof drug trafficking and illegal transportation, the Lao National Assembly approvedthe National Drug Prevention Programme for the 2021-2023 period, which wasimplemented from August 2021./.