This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

270337Z Jan 05

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 
------------------------- 
 
¶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 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶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). 
 
--------------------------------- 
SENIOR OFFICIALS ALSO GIVE A HAND 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶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 
------- 
 
¶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