BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Drugs are an issue that cannot be tackled only at the national level by one country alone, which means regional effort is required to deal with the menace, a senior Brunei drug official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"It is a shared responsibility, and requires concerted efforts of all regional member states," Mohd Jaffari, Acting Director of Brunei's Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) said in a speech at the opening of the 7th ASEAN Airport Interdiction Task Force (AAITF) meeting here.
Representatives from all ASEAN member states, ASEAN Secretariat and Interpol attended the May 9-10 meeting that aims to strengthen cooperation between ASEAN member states, particularly in the sharing of information and the support of interdiction at international airports, as well as coordination in cross-border investigations and operations.
Brunei made 641 arrests for offenses relating to illicit drugs in 2016, an increase of three people compared to the 2015 figures, an NCB official told Xinhua earlier, quoting the latest NCB statistics.
"We must be mindful that with ASEAN economic integration that promotes the free flow of goods, services and people, it would also inevitably increase the number of illegal trade and transnational crimes within the region," Mohd Jaffari said.
"With transnational crimes comes complexity. Therefore, the need to build and maintain collaborative partnerships - while strengthening cross-border and interagency cooperation to respond to growing complex transnational organized crime - in the region is eminent," he added.
AAITF was established in 2012 as an initiative in addressing the increasing threats of drug trafficking at international airports in the ASEAN region.
