Such tactics pose to be quite a challenge for Vientiane Police even though they have processed over 1,200 drug-related cases this year.
Since last year, drug dealers have been making innovative ploys to evade local police’s detection when transporting their drugs. They would take advantage of loopholes in the law and use children below the age of 10, other minors, and pregnant women to carry drugs for them since they don’t generally come across as obvious suspects.
They also make changes to their vehicles so they can hide and move their drugs successfully. Hence, the police have also requested locals to report any suspicious behavior that catches their eye, and village administrations were urged to take stronger measures to curb this problem.
Parents were also asked to teach their children about the dangers of indulging in drugs as dealers mostly infiltrate into groups of young people and try to sell them drugs for cheap. This in turn leads to a rise in drug addiction and other crimes.
In 2022, Vientiane police arrested 1,964 people, and the total amount of drugs in their possession included 2.8 tonnes of amphetamines, 78.92 kilograms of heroin, 40.54 kilograms of crystal meth, 40 bags of mixed drugs weighing 1.997 kilograms, and other narcotics substances.
Although the police have arrested many drug dealers, they still haven’t been unable to apprehend kingpins and drug, trade leaders. This has caused many residents to believe that the police haven’t taken enough action on this issue.
However, law enforcement officials are setting up multiple checkpoints across the country to detect and intercept the movement of drugs across the country either domestically or transnationally.
