From the center of Tri Le commune (Que Phong) to enter Mong Muong Long village of this commune, we had to cross a unique road of nearly 30km, clinging to the steep, slippery, winding mountainside. The local official accompanying us said that "during the rainy season, it can take several hours to get to the village through steep slopes covered in mud and landslides". Seeing strangers, groups of young people gathered to play tops on the main road leading to the village immediately moved away, looking very cautious and alert. When we arrived, we understood why Muong Long village of Tri Le commune had not yet met the "clean" criteria within the scope of the Project to build a "Clean Border Commune on Drugs" of the Provincial Police.
Muong Long village currently has 135 households with 815 people of Mong ethnic group, the life of the majority of people is still difficult (poor households account for 73.3%), many backward customs exist. In the village there are still 5 retail points for drugs (organized by 5 suspected drug addicts, 6 suspects of drug-related criminal activities and 7 drug addicts).
According to Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Hong Quan - Head of Tri Le Commune Police, in addition to the difficulties in terrain and roads, people in Muong Long village have limited legal awareness and a high sense of "protecting" each other. Some people and members of the Village Management Board have close family relationships with drug criminals. Therefore, immediately after the Provincial Police issued a plan to combat and destroy complex drug dens in Muong Long, Tri Le Commune Police actively and proactively coordinated with PC04 Department and Que Phong District Police to deploy solutions to approach deep into the area. However, the approach activities encountered many difficulties. People are very vigilant when strangers enter the village. Many households even leave green tree branches as warning signs, refusing to let officers into their homes. Criminals are also very vigilant, as soon as they have information about strangers entering the village, they immediately move through the forest to makeshift camps in the rugged mountainous area near Laos. The criminal activity area of the subjects is not fixed, when discovered they have the conditions to escape to Laos along the trails along the route.
From the above characteristics and difficulties, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Minh Son - Head of Que Phong District Police said: In addition to directing Tri Le Commune Police to continue to coordinate with local authorities and functional forces in the area to persistently propagate and mobilize, the District Police will focus on improving the effectiveness of coordination and information exchange with professional units inside and outside the industry, functional forces of Laos, creating close and unified cooperation in the fight, comprehensively suppressing crimes and drug abuse in the area. In the immediate future, in coordination with specialized departments of the Provincial Police, the Border Guard force will identify and complete the plan to fight and arrest drug rings and criminals in Tri Le Commune, focusing on Muong Long Village.
In fact, the implementation of the Project to build “Narcotics-free Border Communes” has brought about positive changes; however, the 27 border communes of Nghe An have rugged terrain, many trails, openings, etc., while the infrastructure conditions for the fight against crime and drug abuse are still limited. The lives of people in the border areas are mostly difficult, with limited awareness. Therefore, maintaining the criteria of “clean” drugs is not a simple matter.
For example, in the border commune of Tam Quang, Tuong Duong district, Ms. Kha Thi Hien - Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune said: Up to now, there are no drug trafficking spots in the commune, and drug-related crimes have been minimized. However, Tam Quang commune is bordered on all four sides by areas with complex drug crimes, so it is very susceptible to influence and infiltration. Outside subjects can entice and connect with some local people to establish drug trafficking and illegal transit lines deep inland, leading to an increase in the number of addicts. Therefore, to maintain the "clean" criteria, the implementation of the drug-free commune project must be carried out regularly and continuously to prevent and combat early and from afar.
In Ky Son - the western border district of the province, bordering 4 districts of 3 provinces of Laos, sharing a border of more than 203.409 km, with Nam Can International Border Gate, Ta Do Secondary Border Gate and nearly 30 small-scale roads crossing the two sides of the border. After 6 months of implementing the Project to build "Narcotics-free border communes" in 11 border communes/20 communes and towns of the entire district, up to now, there have been no subjects, groups or lines showing signs of suspicion related to drug-related crimes and drug addicts. However, according to local leaders, due to the large area, complex terrain and sparse population, it has caused many difficulties for functional forces in the fight against crime and drug abuse. The number of drug addicts who have been trained in a profession, provided with jobs and applied post-rehabilitation management measures is generally limited; the number of drug addicts who have successfully completed drug rehabilitation is still low; The situation of drug addicts participating in the Methadone substitution treatment program is not effective, participating but voluntarily stopping treatment or still having activities of buying, selling, storing, and using drugs are being arrested.
Some other areas within the scope of the Project also pointed out limitations in the work of creating records and managing drug addiction treatment, because these are subjects without stable jobs, moving frequently because they are not subject to the ban on leaving their place of residence, causing difficulties in management, applying handling forms such as creating additional records, sending people to compulsory drug addiction treatment facilities. According to statistics, the number of drug addicts identified as negative for drugs in the whole province is 64 subjects and the number of subjects identified as absent from the locality is 97 subjects, posing a high risk of drug addicts returning.
At the conference to review the 6-month implementation of the Project to build "Narcotics-free border communes" in Nghe An, Lieutenant General Nguyen Duy Ngoc - Deputy Minister of Public Security emphasized: With its strategic location, the Vietnam - Laos border has potential complex and unpredictable problems, Nghe An Provincial Police need to continue to direct and closely follow drastic solutions to "keep clean" for communes that have met the criteria, ensuring the sustainable effectiveness of the Project; attach importance to social prevention measures, professional prevention, considering this as a key activity to "keep clean". On the other hand, there is a roadmap to replicate the appropriate model, not hastily; determine to do it, "clean" to that point, in which, achieving 2 clean: "clean addicts" and "clean drug crimes and social evils". At the same time, it is necessary to continue to launch attacks on drug crimes in 3 layers; continue to mobilize resources for drug prevention and control, focusing on the capacity of regular police at the commune level.
As one of the key and complicated drug-related areas identified by the Government and the Ministry of Public Security in the country, over the years, the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee of Nghe An province have always identified drug prevention and control as an important, urgent and regular task. From the actual implementation of the Project to build "Border communes free of drugs", in the coming time, in addition to the main force being the Provincial Police, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung requested: Party committees and authorities of 6 border districts, including Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Ky Son and Que Phong, to focus on leadership and implementation of measures to sustainably maintain "drug-free" status for communes that meet the criteria of "Border communes free of drugs", determined to strive towards the goal of building "Border districts free of drugs" in the shortest time. The remaining localities shall base on the actual situation of crime and drug abuse, and the experience of "cleaning up" drugs in border localities to lead and direct the construction and expansion of the "Clean Communes from Drugs" model in their localities. The results of the implementation and expansion of "Clean Border Communes from Drugs" are considered important criteria to evaluate the performance of local authorities at all levels. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung also requested the Provincial Police to continue advising the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee to resolutely and effectively lead and direct the work of "keeping clean" of drugs in border communes and expand the "Clean Communes from Drugs" model in the whole province, striving to soon remove Nghe An from the list of key and complicated drug areas in the country.
This spirit is clearly demonstrated in Official Dispatch No. 9319/UBND-NC dated November 24, 2022 of the People's Committee of Nghe An province on the implementation of the Project to build "Non-drug-free border communes" towards the goal of "Non-drug-free border districts".
Major General Pham The Tung - Director of the Provincial Police Department said: "Cleaning up is difficult, keeping it clean is even more difficult", therefore, the communes in the 6 border districts that have been "cleaned up" from drugs must drastically and comprehensively implement measures to "keep it clean", absolutely not allowing the situation of drug crimes and social evils to arise again. The leaders of the police units and localities must assign specific responsibilities to each comrade for each locality in "keeping it clean" from drugs. "The leaders of the Provincial Police Department will consider the responsibilities of relevant collectives and individuals if the communes that have been cleaned up from drugs become complicated again..." - the head of the Nghe An Police force emphasized.
Regarding the implementation of the Project in 65 communes with drugs in 6 border districts, units and localities must have a firm grasp of the situation and area to implement flexibly, creatively, and in accordance with reality. Prioritize key and complicated communes and communes bordering border communes first, then the remaining communes, striving to complete "cleaning" drugs in 2023. From 2024, implement solutions to maintain "cleaning" drugs, towards the goal of building a "Border District clean of drugs".
On the part of the Party Committees and authorities of border districts, in order to maintain the “clean” criteria and replicate the model, it is necessary to first keep each village and hamlet “clean”. In particular, it is important to promote the role of “eyes and ears” of the people, self-management groups in residential communities, and prestigious people in denouncing crimes and eliminating social evils, especially in border areas. Along with solutions to combat drugs, it is necessary to strengthen the implementation of social security policies, support production development, and improve the material and spiritual life of the people, in order to limit and eventually eliminate the causes and conditions of crime and drug abuse.
In addition, with the characteristics of the province having the largest area in the country, a 468.2km long border, bordering 3 provinces of the Lao PDR; 27 border communes in 6 districts; 5 border gates connected to 3 key national highways, in order to build a safe "green zone" of the border, creating a foundation to promote socio-economic development, Nghe An needs to focus on international cooperation in preventing and combating drug crimes, especially with the functional forces of Laos, contributing to strengthening the solid anti-drug defense line on the Vietnam - Laos border.
