GMS members tailor plans against drugs in Golden Triangle

KRABI, THAILAND, May 23 (TNA) - Anti-narcotic authorities of six member countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) have met in Krabi Province in the Thai South to discuss joint anti-narcotic efforts in GMS. Thai Justice Minister General Paiboon Khumchaya on Monday chaired the opening session of a senior officials' meeting of the six GMS member countries, including Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The participants in this week's meeting, held at the Dusit Thani Krabi Beach Resort in Muang District during May 23-25, also included representatives from India and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). At the meeting, Thai authorities expressed intention to survey drug-smuggling routes and train border officials on identifying narcotics, as well as precursors and chemicals that are used in narcotic production. Indian representatives were invited to join the three-day GMS meeting to discuss control on precursors which are also sent from Europe, espeially for the production of methamphetamine and ecstasy. The participants in the meeting focused on anti-narcotic efforts in the Golden Triangle, known as a world major narcotic production base. Earlier, GMS member countries launched efforts to stop narcotic transport in the Mekong River, initiated by China. (TNA)