ASEAN vows to make region drug-free

ASEAN vows to make region drug-free

MANILA (Agencies): Drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, already
linked to crimes such as arms smuggling, could worsen and cause
political and security threats in the region, officials said in
an anti-drug accord signed yesterday.

The declaration, which sets the goal of a drug-free region by
the year 2020, was signed by the foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the end of
their two-day annual meeting in Manila.

ASEAN's campaign to eradicate illegal drugs has been boosted
by the admission into the group last year of Myanmar and Laos,
which together with Thailand form the "Golden Triangle," the
source of 60 percent of the heroin reaching the United States.

"It's getting worse," Philippine Foreign Assistant Secretary
Ernesto Llamas said of the region's drug problem. The
Philippines, itself burdened by serious drug abuse, initiated the
declaration.

In the statement ASEAN's nine member countries said they would
try their utmost to eradicate drug production, processing,
trafficking and use. They agreed to strengthen links with
international narcotics agencies, toughen anti-narcotics laws and
share information on drug trade.

The ministers also agreed to cooperate in investigating,
prosecuting and seizing the properties of drug traffickers.

The statement also proposes the promotion of alternative
livelihoods for people who currently depend on the drug trade.

Llamas said almost all ASEAN countries have growing drug
problems except for Singapore. The United Nations Drug Control
Program (UNDCP) says Myanmar and Afghanistan together accounted
for 90 percent of the world's illicit opium production in
1996/97.

Myanmar Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw told the ASEAN meeting
that "Over the last 10 years more than 760 security personnel
have sacrificed their lives and more than 2,200 were wounded in
counter-narcotic operations." He added the government was trying
to provide an alternative livelihood for farmers who had
traditionally relied on the opium poppy. But a pressure group
called the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma says the country is
showing "little real effort to halt the production and smuggling
of heroin and amphetamines".

Raw opium fetches high prices and can be stored for years,
making it a highly practical proposition for growers in remote
areas with poor transport. Myanmar says about 81,000 hectares
were planted to opium this year and the yield was likely to be
600-800 tons.