VZCZCXRO0856
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #1184/01 3090828
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 050827Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0393
INFO ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 HANOI 001184 
 
SIPDIS 
INL FOR JOHN LYLE, ADAM BLOOMQUIST 
EAP/MLS FOR MARC FORINO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SNAR VM
SUBJECT: Vietnam - 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy 
Report, Part 1 
 
HANOI 00001184  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
Summary 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1.  The Government of Vietnam (GVN) continued to make progress in 
its counternarcotics efforts during 2009.  Specific actions 
included: sustained efforts of counternarcotics law enforcement 
authorities to pursue drug traffickers; increased attention to 
interagency coordination; continued cooperation with the United 
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); increased attention to 
both drug treatment and harm reduction; continued public awareness 
activities; and additional bilateral cooperation on HIV/AIDS. 
Operational cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Administration's (DEA) Hanoi Country Office has improved, but 
further progress is still needed in order to achieve significant 
results.  Vietnam is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
 
 
Status of Country 
 
----------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.  Trafficked drugs included heroin, opium, cannabis and 
Amphetamine Type Stimulants ATS (methamphetamine and ecstasy). 
Police also reported the emergence of crystal methamphetamine (ice) 
on local markets. Various types of ATS manufactured in Cambodia, 
China, Lao PDR, Burma and Thailand were smuggled into Vietnam for 
local consumption. No specific data for 2009 is available on the 
total amount of illicit drug crop cultivation; however, estimates 
suggest that opium poppy cultivation remains sharply reduced from 
an estimated 12,900 ha in 1993, when the GVN began opium poppy 
eradication. Cultivation in Vietnam probably accounts for only 
about one percent of the total cultivation in Southeast Asia, 
according to law enforcement estimates. Official UNODC statistical 
tables no longer list Vietnam separately with major drug production 
countries in drug production analyses. Small amounts of cannabis 
are reportedly grown in remote regions of southern Vietnam. Prior 
to 2008, DEA had no evidence of any Vietnamese-produced narcotics 
reaching the United States nor was Vietnam a source or transit 
country for precursors. However, more recent information indicates 
that precursor chemicals and Ecstasy are beginning to be shipped 
from Vietnam into Canada for eventual distribution in the United 
States. The dual use chemical, Safrole, (sassafras oil from which 
ecstasy can be produced) is not produced in Vietnam, but it is 
imported into Vietnam for re-export under controls to third 
countries. The potential for diversion of sassafras oil into 
clandestine ecstasy production remains an area of concern.  In 
2009, the GVN continued to view other Golden Triangle countries, 
primarily Burma and Laos, as the source for most of the heroin 
supplied to Vietnam.  GVN authorities are particularly concerned 
about rising ATS-Amphetamine-type Stimulants use among urban youth. 
During 2009, the GVN continued enforcement and awareness programs 
that it hopes will enable Vietnam to avoid a youth synthetic drug 
epidemic. Resource constraints in all aspects of narcotics programs 
are pervasive, and GVN counternarcotics officials note that, as a 
developing country, Vietnam will continue to face resource 
constraints for the foreseeable future, despite annual budget 
increases for counternarcotics efforts. 
 
 
 
Country Actions against Drugs in 2009 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  Policy Initiatives.  The structure of the GVN's 
counternarcotics efforts is built around the National Committee on 
AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Control (NCADP), which includes 18 GVN 
ministries and Communist Party affiliated organizations as members. 
In addition, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), as NCADP's 
standing member, has a specialized unit to combat and suppress drug 
crimes, and the Standing Office for Drug Control (SODC) under the 
MPS is responsible for assisting the Minister of Public Security, 
as the Vice Chairman of NCADP, in advising the Government on 
development and multi-sector coordination of drug control policies. 
The SODC also maintains an information unit for collecting and 
maintaining data on drug trafficking and other drug-related crimes. 
 
HANOI 00001184  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
In June 2008, the National Assembly passed a revised Law on 
Amendment and Supplement to the Law on Drugs Prevention and 
Control, which delineates in more detail the responsibilities of 
law-enforcement authorities, including police, border army, 
maritime police, and customs, in preventing drug use and 
controlling drug supply. The law also stipulates that HIV harm 
reduction activities to be consistent with the HIV/AIDS Law of 
¶2006. The new law came into effect in January 2009, with 
implementation ongoing throughout the year. 
 
 
 
¶4.  The Government placed the counter-narcotics issue high on its 
agenda, and has established a National Drug Control Target Program 
that aims to improve Vietnam's legal system and policies, build 
drug control capacity, and streamline and reform interagency drug 
control coordination.  The Program also seeks to increase the 
involvement of civil society in drug control and promote 
international cooperation. 
 
 
 
¶5.  The GVN continues to emphasize drug awareness and prevention 
and views education and demand reduction as integral parts of its 
effort to comply fully with the 1988 UN Drug Convention.  During 
2009, many provinces and cities continued to implement their own 
drug awareness and prevention programs, as well as demand reduction 
and drug treatment. The GVN continued to rely heavily on 
counternarcotics propaganda, culminating in the annual drug 
awareness month in June 2009. Officially sponsored activities cover 
every aspect of society, from schools to unions to civic 
organizations and government offices. In 2009, the GVN continued 
its ongoing effort to de-stigmatize drug addicts in order to 
increase their odds of successful treatment, and to help control 
the spread of HIV/AIDS. 
 
 
 
¶6.  Law Enforcement Efforts.  According to SODC, by the end of 
September 2009, there were almost 11,000 drug cases involving 
16,000 suspects. Total seizures included 280 kg of heroin, 60 kg of 
opium, 500 kg of cannabis, 700,000 ATS tablets, 1 kg of ketamine, 
and 800,000 tablets and 8,000 ampoules of addictive 
pharmaceuticals. Drug laws remain very tough in Vietnam, with a 
mandatory death penalty for possession or trafficking of 600 grams 
or more of heroin, or 20 kg of opium gum or cannabis resin. Drug 
crimes were often connected to money laundering and other crimes 
such as robbery, homicide, firearms trafficking, counterfeit 
trafficking and human trafficking. Foreign law enforcement sources 
do not believe that major trafficking groups have moved into 
Vietnam; however, Vietnamese law enforcement authorities have 
raised the issue of West African crime syndicates establishing a 
presence in Vietnam. U.S. law enforcement officials report that 
West African criminal organizations are utilizing Vietnam as an 
operational center to coordinate the trafficking of Southeast and 
Southwest Asia heroin. Additional information revealed that West 
African criminal organizations in Pakistan are also recruiting 
couriers, many of whom are Vietnamese nationals, to traffic heroin 
from Pakistan to Vietnam and to China through Vietnam. 
 
 
 
¶7.  Foreign law enforcement representatives in Vietnam state that 
operational cooperation on counternarcotics cases is limited 
largely due to legal prohibitions and policy restrictions that 
largely preclude Vietnam's drug enforcement authorities from 
sharing information and supporting bilateral investigations with 
foreign police agencies. However, there is some operational 
cooperation on a case-by-case basis. While changes in Vietnamese 
law are necessary to provide a legal and procedural basis for more 
comprehensive, systematic cooperation with foreign law enforcement 
agencies, U.S. law enforcement agencies noted that agency-to-agency 
agreements have made cooperation on individual cases easier. During 
2009, cooperation between GVN law enforcement authorities and the 
DEA remained consistent with the experience in 2008, with 
counternarcotics police sharing only basic investigative 
information on a case-by-case basis. 
 
 
 
¶8.  Corruption.  As a matter of GVN policy, Vietnam does not 
encourage or facilitate the illicit production or distribution of 
narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or 
the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. No 
 
HANOI 00001184  003.3 OF 006 
 
 
information known to U.S. law enforcement agencies specifically 
links any senior GVN official with engaging in, encouraging or 
facilitating the illicit production or distribution of drugs or 
substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug 
transactions. Nevertheless, a certain level of corruption is 
consistent with the fairly large-scale movement of narcotics into 
and out of Vietnam and is likely occurring both among lower-level 
enforcement personnel and higher-level officials. The GVN 
demonstrated a willingness to prosecute some corrupt officials on 
narcotics related offenses, although most of the targets were 
relatively low-level. 
 
 
 
¶9.  Agreements/Treaties.  Vietnam is a party to the 1988 UN Drug 
Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 
Protocol and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. 
Vietnam has signed, but has not yet ratified, the UN Convention 
against Transnational Organized Crime. 
 
 
 
¶10.  Vietnam ratified the UN Corruption Convention on June 20, 
¶2009. Vietnam issued a statement saying it would not be held to 
item 2, Article 66 of this convention. This item stipulates that if 
disputes on the explanation and application of the convention 
cannot be solved by negotiation or arbitrators, members have the 
right to bring the case to the international private law court. 
Vietnam also stated to it would not adhere to some optional 
regulations, such as criminalizing illegal money-making acts, 
corruption in the private sector, the use of special investigative 
techniques, which Vietnamese laws do not cover. In addition, 
Vietnam does not consider this convention as a direct legal 
foundation for the extradition of corruption-related criminals; 
extradition must be based on Vietnamese laws. 
 
 
 
¶11.  In February 2004, the United States signed a Letter of 
Agreement (LOA) with the Government of Vietnam on Counternarcotics 
Cooperation to facilitate U.S. Government funded counternarcotics 
programs in Vietnam. On November 16, 2006, DEA and MPS signed a 
non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate 
cooperation, including information sharing, coordinated operations, 
and capacity building. DEA and MPS anticipate extending the MOU for 
three more years. 
 
 
 
¶12.  Cultivation/Production.  During the 2008-2009, authorities 
nationwide detected and destroyed 45 hectares of poppy plants, 
primarily in the border provinces of Son La, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Lai 
Chau, Lang Son, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Ha Giang and Dong Nai, and 1 
hectare of marijuana. No specific data for 2009 is available on the 
total amount of illicit drug crop cultivation; however, estimates 
suggest that opium poppy cultivation remains sharply reduced from 
an estimated 12,900 ha in 1993, when the GVN began opium poppy 
eradication. There have been some recent confirmed reports that ATS 
and heroin have been produced in Vietnam. Local ATS production 
relies on ATS powder brought from outside the country, which is 
then processed into pills.  GVN law enforcement forces have seized 
some ATS-related equipment (i.e., pill presses). As part of its 
efforts to comply fully with the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the GVN 
continued to eradicate poppies when found and to implement crop 
substitution. There were, however, some reports of drug refining 
and trafficking in heroin among hill tribes along the border with 
Laos. 
 
 
 
¶13.  Drug Flow/Transit.  U.S. and foreign law enforcement sources 
along with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) believe that 
significant amounts of drugs are transiting Vietnam. Drugs, 
especially heroin and opium, enter Vietnam from the Golden Triangle 
via Laos and Cambodia by land, sea and air, making their way to 
Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, either for local consumption or 
transshipment to other countries such as Australia, Japan, China, 
Taiwan and Malaysia. An increasing two-way drug trafficking between 
Vietnam and China was noted; narcotic drugs and ATS from China to 
Vietnam, while heroin from the northwest border area was smuggled 
inside Vietnam before transporting to China. Traffickers in major 
drug cases reported to police investigators that heroin was 
trafficked to China to supply drugs for local consumption. Heroin 
was also trafficked from Cambodia to Vietnam.  Law enforcement 
 
HANOI 00001184  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
detected Taiwanese traffickers and overseas Vietnamese in Australia 
smuggling drugs into Vietnam before transporting them to Australia, 
Hong Kong and Taiwan. Drug trafficking by air was conducted through 
Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat airport. 
 
 
 
¶14.  The ATS flow into the country during 2009 continued to be 
serious and not limited to border areas. ATS can now be found 
throughout the country, especially in places frequented by young 
people. ATS, such as amphetamine, ecstasy, and especially "ice" 
methamphetamine (crystal methamphetamine), and other drugs such as 
diazepam and ketamine continue to worry the government and rank 
with heroin and cannabis as the most popular drugs in Vietnam. Such 
drugs are most popular in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other major 
cities. During 2009, numerous cases involving ATS trafficking and 
consumption were reported in the media. 
 
 
 
¶15.  Drug traffickers have become more sophisticated in recent 
years and today transport drugs by air, land, sea, and post; employ 
modern hi-tech communication equipment; change mobile phone sim 
cards; and enlist drug users, pregnant women, children, and 
HIV-infected people as couriers and retailers. U.S. and foreign law 
enforcement sources estimate that 85 percent of drug traffickers 
were former convicts, HIV-infected and drug addicts. 70 percent of 
traffickers are between18 and 35 years of age and as many as 25 
percent of traffickers are female. Traffickers engaged in violence, 
and in many instances fought back against law enforcement. 
 
 
 
¶16.  Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction.  Several ministries 
undertake demand reduction activities, which include the 
distribution of hundreds of thousands of counternarcotics leaflets 
and videos, and organized counternarcotics painting contests for 
children. The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) carries out 
awareness activities in schools. Counternarcotics material is 
available in all schools and MOET sponsors various workshops and 
campaigns at all school levels. The UNODC assesses GVN drug 
awareness efforts favorably in preventing abuse, but considers 
these efforts to have minimal impact on the existing addict and 
HIV/AIDS population. 
 
 
 
¶17.  Stigma and discrimination against injecting drug users (IDU) 
in Vietnam - exacerbated by historical campaigns characterizing 
drug use as a "social evil" - have made it difficult to obtain 
accurate IDU population size estimates and to expand access to 
needed services. The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs 
(MOLISA) reports 180,000 officially "registered" IDU nationally, 
while SODC reports 150,000 officially registered drug users as of 
the end of June 2009. The actual size of this population is 
estimated by U.S. and international organizations to be many times 
higher. In addition, using even the most conservative estimates of 
population size, coverage of basic prevention services remains low, 
though it has consistently improved overtime. According to a recent 
report from MOLISA, an estimated 35,000 injecting drug users are 
being detained in 100 government-run rehabilitation centers, with 
HIV infection rates estimated at over 60 percent in some 
facilities. 
 
 
 
¶18.  Vietnam strives to integrate addiction treatment and 
vocational training to facilitate the rehabilitation of drug 
addicts. MOLISA reports that approximately 54,000 drug users 
received treatment, more than 10,000 received vocational training, 
and approximately 6,000 received basic education.  SODC reports 
that 36 provinces and cities have organized detoxification and 
rehabilitation for more than 40,000 drug addicts and provided 
vocational training for more than 4,000 drug addicts and 
facilitated 150 jobs. These efforts include tax and other economic 
incentives for businesses that hire recovered addicts. Despite 
these efforts, only a small percentage of recovered addicts find 
regular employment. 
 
 
 
¶19.  HIV/AIDS is a serious and growing problem in Vietnam and 
distinctive because the behaviors of injecting drug users drive 
transmission. Ministry of Health reports 243,000 HIV cases in the 
 
HANOI 00001184  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
country, a figure considered accurate by both the UNAIDS and the 
USG. More than 40 percent of known HIV cases are injecting drug 
users, with many additional infections resulting from transmission 
to the sexual partners and children of these individuals. The 
Vietnamese National Strategy for HIV Prevention and Control 
presents a comprehensive response to HIV, including condom 
promotion, clean needle and syringe programs, voluntary counseling 
and testing and HIV/AIDS treatment and care. 
 
 
 
¶20.  Vietnam was designated the 15th focus country under the 
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2004. The 
USG FY09 funding, $88.5 million, is distributed through PEPFAR 
agencies such as USAID, HHS/CDC, and the U.S. Department of 
Defense. The majority of USG support targets seven provinces 
(Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, An Giang 
and Nghe An), where the epidemic is most severe; however, PEPFAR 
also supports HIV counseling and testing and community outreach for 
drug users and sex workers in 30 additional provinces. U.S.-led 
innovations, such as the provision of medication-assisted therapy 
(including treatment with methadone) are highly regarded by the 
government and the international community. The USG currently 
supports the Vietnam government's pilot medication-assisted therapy 
program at six sites in two provinces. The program will then expand 
coverage to additional provinces with the highest prevalence of 
addiction. 
 
 
 
¶21.  The Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) program for IDU is 
currently operational in three sites in HCMC and three sites in Hai 
Phong, with plans to expand the program to Hanoi by the end of the 
calendar year 2009. The concentration of HIV infection in IDU 
populations in Vietnam has spurred the PEPFAR program to focus HIV 
prevention, care, and treatment efforts in these key urban settings 
and along drug transport corridors to prevent the continued spread 
of HIV. 
 
 
 
U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶22.  Policy Initiatives.  United States policy objectives in 
counternarcotics cooperation in Vietnam are aimed at improving 
bilateral cooperation in counternarcotics enforcement and assisting 
Vietnam to expand the capacity of its counternarcotics law 
enforcement agencies. The DEA Hanoi Country Office pursues direct 
cooperation with the Counternarcotics Department of MPS on 
counternarcotics cases and engages in some capacity-building 
efforts through funding GVN participation at international events 
and conferences, as well as conducting some basic training 
activities. Between April and June, DEA sponsored training for 50 
officers from the MPS, Vietnam Marine Police, and MPS Riverine 
Police Units in the Hai Phong Port area and in the Southern Mekong 
Delta area of Tien Giang Province. The training, which was funded 
and carried out by the Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF-W), 
covered tactical training, emergency medical training, and small 
craft maintenance and technical training. DEA also carried out a 
seminar in Ho Chi Minh City in September, training approximately 30 
Vietnamese Police officers on drug smuggling techniques and 
interdiction skills. Additionally, DEA and JIATF-W are working with 
MPS on an infrastructure support project involving the construction 
of a joint training facility in Vinh, Vietnam. The International 
Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, in cooperation with the Thai 
Government, provides law enforcement training to Vietnamese 
officers each year on a range of counternarcotics related courses, 
training approximately 6 Vietnamese students per course, with a 
total of approximately 100 Vietnamese officers trained per year. 
The USG also provided port security and vulnerability assessment 
and container inspection training to Vietnam. 
 
 
 
¶23.  The Road Ahead.  The GVN is aware of the threat of drugs and 
Vietnam's increasing domestic drug problem. However, there is a 
guarded approach to foreign law enforcement assistance including in 
the counternarcotics arena. During 2009, as in previous years, the 
GVN made progress with on-going and new initiatives aimed at the 
law enforcement and social problems that stem from the illegal drug 
 
HANOI 00001184  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
trade. The GVN continued to show a willingness to take unilateral 
action against drugs and drug trafficking, and requested assistance 
from foreign law enforcement organizations, albeit on a 
case-by-case basis. Vietnam still faces many internal problems that 
make fighting drugs a challenge, including a lack of resources, 
corruption, and a need for increased capacity amongst its law 
enforcement entities. While USG-GVN operational cooperation is on 
the rise, such cooperation will remain limited until Vietnam 
develops of a legal framework to allow involvement of foreign law 
enforcement officers in law enforcement investigations on 
Vietnamese soil, or the signing of a bilateral agreement between 
the United States and Vietnam to create a mechanism for joint 
investigations and development of drug cases. The November 2006 
Memorandum of Understanding between DEA and the MPS is a first step 
in this direction, but this non-binding understanding directly 
addresses law enforcement cooperation on a case-by-case basis and 
only at the central government level. 
Palmer