Cooperate to capture big fish, agency says

Cooperate to capture big fish, agency says

Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative Southeast Asia Pacific, says better regional cooperation could bag the drug kingpins. (Bangkok Post photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative Southeast Asia Pacific, says better regional cooperation could bag the drug kingpins. (Bangkok Post photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)

Thailand should work with its neighbours to bag drug kingpins instead of chasing dealers, users or mid-management players to truly solve narcotics problems in the region, according to senior officials at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

"The focus clearly should not be on the low level, street intervention of law enforcement, it needs to be pitched at the right level. That means the kingpins, those that run the business and make the big money," said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Regional Representative Southeast Asia Pacific.

"That's why regional cooperation is really important," he added.

Captains of the drug trade in Southeast Asia operate across multiple countries and cannot easily be identified, he said, adding that only mid-level traffickers tend to get arrested.

Mr Douglas was speaking to the Bangkok Post at the "High Level Regional Conference on Enhancing Cooperation on Border Management in the Asean Region: Ensuring a More Interconnected, Safe and Secure Asean Community".

The meeting, held in Bangkok, discussed regional integration, and improvements to border management to help secure the region.

The results of the conference will be presented to Asean's Senior Officials' Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) in Vientiane from May 22-27.

"Thailand has really positioned itself well as a hub for industry and for logistics," Mr Douglas told the Bangkok Post last Friday.

"But as a result of that, a lot of things get trafficked here and it's a big market for drugs and so forth. So the cooperation is there, but it's still not as deep as it needs to be," he said.

He described Thailand as being "significantly advanced" compared to its neighbours, even allocating a hefty budget to its border offices and officers.

"It's not that the [neighbouring countries] don't want to do it, but sometimes they don't have the resources to do it. This is where we work with international partners to get the resources," he added.

Aldo Lale-Demoz, UNODC deputy executive director and director of operations, said the region should also focus on developing education for the vulnerable to try to curb the illicit drug industry.

"Thailand has shown leadership by having an efficient justice system that really goes after serious crimes, and instead of punishing the small ones and juveniles, there are support services, social services for these people," he said.

"It's also an issue of development, for people sometimes have no other choice and fall into the lure or trap of transnational organised crimes."

Mr Douglas said the UNODC has also conducted joint studies with Thailand's Institute of Justice into human trafficking to get a better understanding of the problem.

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