Thailand to host ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on narcotics prevention and control August 31

BANGKOK, August 24 (TNA) - Thailand, through the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), will host the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Narcotics Prevention and Control in Bangkok on August 31. ONCB Secretary-General Police General Adul Saengsingkaew told a press conference today that ministers in charge of narcotic control in the ASEAN bloc and ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan have been invited to attend the forthcoming regional forum, as all member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to develop the 10-nation grouping as a world narcotics-free zone by 2015, when ASEAN is also scheduled to establish its Single Community in three major areas, including economic, political and security and socio-cultural spheres. Police General Adul acknowledged that the upcoming regional talks will also discuss and review cooperation on legal practices and law enforcements on the extradition of criminal suspects and will explore ways for further strengthening intra-regional relations. According to the ONCB chief, regional drug rings have become more organised with increasing cross-border networks, particularly between border areas of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos where many illegal drug production plants have been set up. The ONCB chief said, however, that the overall picture of narcotic control in Thailand has been improving, pointing that concerned agencies have seized over 68 million amphetamine pills, 1,200 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, 232 kilogrammes of heroin and over 16,000 kilogrammes of marijuana over the past 10 months and more than 65,000 drug suspects have been arrested with their assets worth over 160 billion baht totally having been seized. (TNA)