VIETNAM - CHINA COUNTERNARCOTICS COOPERATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000228

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; EAP CM; INL/AAE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PINS VM CN CVR CNARC
SUBJECT: VIETNAM - CHINA COUNTERNARCOTICS COOPERATION

Ref: 04 Hanoi 1584


1. (U) Summary: In 2004 China and Vietnam made an effort to
increase counternarcotics cooperation both along the border
and at the policy level. This effort culminated in a
December 2004 joint case that resulted in several arrests
and the seizure of 10.3 kilograms of heroin. Despite this
high-profile case, in general the long and rugged border
severely complicates counternarcotics cooperation. On the
Vietnamese side, low capacity and limited counternarcotics
resources at the border are also handicaps. End Summary.

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LONG AND DIFFICULT BORDER
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2. (U) With four international, three national and 14 local
crossings along the 1,463-kilometer border between Vietnam
and China, in addition to numerous scattered forest paths,
drug trafficking in the border region is an ever worsening
problem. Most of the border lies in rugged terrain with
rivers, mountains and forests. Smuggling can only be
limited, not completely suppressed, due to these
uncontrollable "forest paths," said Mr. Duong Thoi Giang,
Vice Chairman of the Lang Son Provincial People's Committee
in a press interview. In addition, according to an article
in "An Ninh Thu Do" ("Capital Security") Newspaper, there
are only 50 narcotics enforcement officers in the Border
Army and Sea Police forces, responsible for the entire 8,000-
kilometer land border and one million square kilometers of
territorial waters. Major General Trinh Ngoc Huyen, Vietnam
Border Army General Commander, noted during the nationwide
counter-drug review conference in Hanoi in March 2004 that
the lack of equipment and poor interagency coordination also
make the long and difficult border harder to control.

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BILATERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACHIEVEMENTS
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3. (U) Despite the difficult border and lack of resources,
drug control forces have had some successes. According to
"Ha Noi Moi" ("New Hanoi") Newspaper, in December 2004 the
police of Lang Son Province and their Chinese counterparts
cracked the first significant drug case between Vietnam and
China. The joint operation (in which the two sides operated
separately on their own sides of the border) began in
November 2004. On December 12 the police arrested Ha Tay
Province resident Nguyen Thi Nga along with two other
traffickers and 150 addicts. Police seized 10.3 kilograms
of heroin. During the campaign, the Chinese side mobilized
900 police officers and 177 vehicles of various types, the
paper reported. In addition to this large case, authorities
from both sides of the border seized about 4,000 vials of
addictive pharmaceuticals, more than 6 kilograms of heroin
and almost 100 grams of cocaine in 2004, according to
Vietnam's Standing Office of Drug Control (SODC).

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SENIOR OFFICIALS ALSO GIVE A HAND
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4. (U) In the common bid to strengthen bilateral
counternarcotics cooperation, on April 14, 2004, Vietnam and
China held in Hanoi their first conference on cooperation
for security and combating crime at the border. Chinese
Vice Minister of Public Security Zhao Yongji led a 21-member
delegation to the conference. Le Hong Anh, Politburo member
and Vietnam's Minister of Public Security, said that the two
sides would "expand cooperation in combating crimes and
maintaining border security to ensure that the people live
in safety." During the conference, the participants
discussed, among other issues, measures to combat drug-
running and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on
combating crimes and maintaining security at the border.
The second conference is expected in Beijing in 2006.


5. (U) At the local level, the Lao Cai Provincial Department
of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) organized
a study tour in Yunnan, China in October 2004. In addition,
under the Denmark-funded UNODC sub-regional project VIE/H61
to strengthen cooperation among law enforcement offices in
East Asia, Mong Cai town authorities in Quanh Ninh Province
and their Dongxing counterparts in Guangxi Province have
coordinated via their border liaison offices (BLO) to share
investigative information.

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COMMENT
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6. (SBU) Vietnamese and Chinese counternarcotics taskforces
are operating close to their maximum capacity in the absence
of a clearly demarcated border. Currently, local border
disputes (often between farmers over land or residents over
the location of a gravesite) frequently erupt and require
the intervention of border army forces. Vietnamese
interlocutors say the two sides cannot do a better job now
without the facilitation of the land border treaty. Until
those issues are resolved, cooperation will remain cosmetic,
notwithstanding December's big seizure. The lack of
equipment, resources and training on the Vietnamese side
complicates the effort further, a problem USG assistance to
the GVN through the UNODC Joint Task Force project (reftel)
aims to solve.

MARINE