The border area of Nghe An province with 3 neighboring provinces of Laos has many ethnic minorities living, often going back and forth to do business, visit relatives... The grassroots political system still has many shortcomings, especially at the village level. The management and operation capacity of the Party Committee, the government as well as the people's lives still face many difficulties; the intellectual level of the people is uneven, the people's awareness of the country and national borders is still limited, some backward customs have not been eliminated; violations of agreements, treaties and border regulations still occur. Many people due to difficult circumstances and limited awareness have been enticed and drawn into illegal activities including transnational drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, trade fraud, illegal transportation of goods across the border... causing many difficulties for the Party Committee, local government and functional forces.
With such reality, in addition to political, economic, cultural exchanges and cooperation, Nghe An province and neighboring provinces of Laos always pay attention to and cooperate regularly in the management, protection of border security and prevention of all kinds of crimes. In particular, with the characteristics of 27 border communes, many of which are key communes with complicated drug problems; the number of drug addicts is still high; criminal activities related to complicated drug points and hotspots pose high risks; drug criminals often transit drugs from Laos into Nghe An and go to other localities for consumption (through monitoring, 80% of the amount of drugs seized in the province is smuggled across the Vietnam - Laos border).
Therefore, in recent years, Nghe An province has directed localities, police, border guards, and customs forces to proactively coordinate with functional forces of the Lao PDR to deploy solutions to prevent and combat crimes in border areas. Typically, such as coordinating to deploy plans to resolve the complicated drug situation between Que Phong district and Sam To and Muong Quan districts; Ky Son district and Noong Het district of Laos. Thereby, propagating the harmful effects of drugs, organizing people to sign agreements not to store, use, transport, or trade in drugs; organizing political attacks on subjects related to drugs... contributing to deterring subjects and raising awareness among people in the fight against crime and drug abuse.
Among the localities in Western Nghe An that border Laos, Ky Son is the district with the longest border (203.409km), including 91.983km of land border and 111.426km of river border, bordering 4 districts and 3 provinces of Laos, so the district faces many difficulties in managing people entering and leaving the border area. In addition, the population is scattered and not concentrated; the distance between villages is far away; transportation is difficult; people's lives are still poor and backward. Crimes, especially drug crimes, forest exploitation and transportation activities, and Protestant missionary activities still have many potential complications. Therefore, to prevent the exploitation of difficult terrain to transport, trade and illegally store drugs, Ky Son District Police, Border Guard and Customs forces have regularly exchanged information and coordinated with Lao forces to deploy combat plans. In 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, Ky Son District Police presided over and coordinated with functional forces to arrest and handle 101 cases and 129 drug criminals. Of which, 18 major projects were successfully established and discovered, 3 drug trafficking routes from Laos to Ky Son to the lowland provinces for consumption were eliminated, 1 drug den and 7 drug retail points were eliminated.
Other functional forces have also proactively coordinated with the forces of neighboring countries in developing plans and dismantling drug-related criminal networks and gangs. Typically, Nghe An Provincial Police coordinated with the functional forces of Lao PDR to successfully arrest 4 wanted criminals hiding in Laos. Among them were 2 wanted criminals for extremely dangerous drugs. In parallel with coordinating with neighboring countries, the Provincial Police also developed and implemented the Project "Border Communes Clean of Drugs" in border districts to gradually curb and repel this type of crime. To date, 4 drug hotspots and 14 complicated drug points have been successfully eliminated, 9 drug-infected communes have been "cleaned" and 74 drug-free communes have been kept clean.
Along with the Police, the Border Guard force also regularly exchanges and cooperates with border protection units of Laos, coordinating to eradicate drug trafficking lines. The leader of the Nghe An Border Guard Command said that in June 2022 alone, the Border Guard units presided over and coordinated with functional forces to detect and arrest a total of 58 cases, 66 subjects, and 14 vehicles. Of these, there were 30 cases and 31 subjects committing drug crimes.
Since 2012, the Nghe An Border Guard has coordinated with the Police of the three provinces of Hua Phan, Xieng Khouang, and Bolikhamxay, which share a border with Nghe An, to collect, research, and process more than 5,200 pieces of information related to national security; presided over and coordinated with the Police of the three neighboring Lao provinces that share a border to successfully fight 6 special cases, arrest 8 subjects related to drug crimes, seize 52 heroin cakes, 15 kg of opium, 48 thousand synthetic drug pills, 7 kg of crystal meth, and many other related exhibits.
In addition, in recent years, facing the complicated developments of illegal Protestant propaganda activities in some mountainous areas, the authorities have coordinated with the Party committees, authorities and people of the villages on both sides of the border to grasp the activities of the subjects, promptly provide information to the authorities to coordinate the fight, and at the same time propagate and mobilize the masses not to believe, not to listen, not to follow bribery to convert to the religion. Thanks to that, the fight against illegal Protestant propaganda activities in the border areas has been effectively carried out.
Strengthening international support and cooperation in crime prevention and control is one of the key contents of the security and order assurance plan that the People's Committee of Nghe An province regularly directs. This includes maintaining and improving the operational efficiency of the Border Drug Prevention and Control Liaison Office (BLO) located at the Que Phong District Police, Nghe An Province and Sam To District, Hua Phan Province, Laos. The maintenance of this office has brought about positive effects in preventing and combating drug crimes, especially in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic in recent times...
In addition to international cooperation in drug prevention and control, the functional forces of Nghe An and Laos also actively exchange information and cooperate in preventing human trafficking, illegal migration, smuggling and trade fraud across the border. In particular, the two sides fight and prevent activities that undermine political security and social order and safety; coordinate to organize bilateral patrols to protect the border, manage and control activities well at the Nam Can International Border Gate and the main and secondary border gates in the area to ensure convenience for people on both sides of the border to travel and trade.
Nghe An Provincial People's Committee has also effectively organized foreign affairs activities to create a regular and close relationship with Lao Party Committees, authorities and functional agencies, facilitating coordination activities in crime prevention and control. In the first half of 2022, Nghe An authorities welcomed 7 Lao delegations to the area and organized 3 delegations to Laos to celebrate Tet at the Police Departments of Xieng Khouang, Bolikhamxay and Hua Phan provinces. Or implementing the additional cooperation plan between the Ministry of Public Security of Laos and Vietnam, including the policy of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security helping the Lao Ministry of Public Security build 287 working offices of the Public Security of border villages. In Nghe An, up to now, 9 offices have been built and handed over to the Police Department of 9 border villages of Laos.
Along with support activities, every year the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Lao Ministry of Public Security also organize a Security Cooperation Conference to evaluate and recognize the effectiveness of coordination between the two ministries. In 2021, this conference was held in Nghe An, the two sides agreed on the direction of cooperation in 2022, focusing on exchanging information, sharing experiences, performing tasks of ensuring national security; preventing transnational crimes, especially drug crimes and many other important tasks.
On the side of Nghe An Border Guard, 67 Covid-19 prevention and control teams have been established at trails and openings, coordinating with the Military and Police forces of 3 Lao provinces to patrol, control, and prevent 145 cases/324 illegal entry and exit cases. In addition, 2 training sessions were organized and taught Vietnamese for 60 soldiers of the Military Command of 2 provinces of Xieng Khouang and Bolikhamxay to improve the effectiveness of border management and protection.
Up to now, Nghe An has organized the signing and twinning of 8 border posts (Vietnam) with 7 Border Guard Companies and 1 Border Police Station of the provinces sharing the border with Laos. The twinning activities have promoted the relationship of solidarity and mutual assistance in times of difficulty, coordinated to firmly protect sovereignty, territorial integrity, and maintain security and order on both sides of the border. Most recently, on July 22, 2022, the Border Guard Command of Nghe An province held talks with the Military Command and the Public Security Boards of 3 provinces of Laos in Vinh City to inform and discuss the situation of border management and protection, border gate work, crime prevention and control, and maintenance of security and order, social safety on both sides of the border area in the recent past, and agreed to propose directions, contents, and coordination measures in the coming time.
Strengthening cooperation in the fight against crime in particular and border management and protection in general between Nghe An and neighboring Lao provinces in particular aims to create a solid shield at the front line, contributing to maintaining political stability, national defense and security in each country and contributing to building a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and developing border.