The government has no strategy in place to battle the nation's spiraling illegal
drug use and lacks the resources and political will necessary to address the problem
effectively, a range of experts and officials have told the Post.
According to the 2005 National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) report, Cambodia
is laced with drug trafficking routes, its airports are used to ship heroin to Australia,
Singapore and Hong Kong, and the number of drug offenses shot up almost 70 percent
since 2004.
Moreover, the annual budget for the NACD has not changed in the last five years,
leaving the government woefully ill-prepared to tackle any impending challenges,
said NACD Technical Adviser Graham Shaw.
"The budget is approximately US$200,000 to $250,000 for the entire operation,"
Shaw said. "Cambodia is basically starting from nothing. Everything needs to
be developed, the hardware and the software. And the drugs aren't going to wait for
the Ministry of Finance."
Shaw, who in April will release the first government-authorized drug guides for health
professionals and teachers, said that the government has just recently admitted the
extent of Cambodia's drug problem.
"In fact, it's only this year that the Ministry of Health has shown action,
before they rarely even talked about it," Shaw said. "Since 2003 there
have been several key policy speeches by the Prime Minister and others, and some
policy action implemented, but the human and financial requirements have not been
forthcoming. Last year the NACD and the UNOCD developed the first Master Plan for
combating drugs over five years for the cost of about $7 million. To date, I am not
aware of any government financial support for that plan."
The report found that methamphetamine - know locally as "yama" -is by far
the most prevalent drug in Cambodia and the greatest cause of addiction. The NACD
reports that there are 6,876 drug addicts in the nation, but Martin Lutterjohann,
NACD technical expert, estimates there are as many as 50,000.
"For us the biggest issue is treatment, and creating a network of effective
treatment opportunities," said Lutterjohann. "The military police have
opened some centers and the NACD welcomes this move. But the government has not delivered
or established any government treatment centers. The NACD requested the municipality
of Phnom Penh to set aside land and construct a treatment center, but I don't know
how far this idea has gone."
According to the NACD, methamphetamine is smuggled into Cambodia from Laos and Thailand
through such border provinces as Koh Kong, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Preah
Vihear-where two men were arrested on February 20 in possession of 24,000 yama pills.
The report named Stung Treng province as the main gateway for smuggled yama that
in some cases may have originated in Myanmar (Burma).
"Cambodia is not important as a drug producing center, but since Thailand's
war on drugs after 1997 it became a transit country," Lutterjohann said. "The
bulk of the meth comes down the Mekong from the Wa region of Burma. The United Wa
Army controls the drug trade and they have a deal to control methamphetamine and
heroin."
According to NACD officials, most of the yama tablets found on the streets of Phnom
Penh are stamped with the WY logo of the United Wa State Army.
"The number of tablets they're producing in the Wa region is huge," Shaw
said. "What's being brought through Cambodia is heroin and yama sometimes with
ecstasy and cannabis. It goes to Laos and then to here mostly by boat. But certainly
it's coming over roads as well. In Preah Vihear people are walking it over the border
or using bikes to bring it over and then down the Mekong."
Chou Pi Chhoura, Stung Treng province penal police chief, acknowledged that methamphetamines
are trafficked from Laos through the deep forest and on the many waterways that cross
his province.
"The drugs traffickers are always developing new tactics and routes, and at
the moment we are running behind them," Pi Chhoura said.
According to Pi Chhoura, the traffickers are from other provinces and the local people
he has arrested in the past were only guiding the smugglers through the area.
He said the provincial authorities lack the human resources, funding and transportation
to monitor the trafficking routes.
"It is a hot issue for our forces to curb the drug trafficking," Chhoura
said. "Currently, we cannot stop them. It is a shame for our authorities."
Contact PhnomPenh Post for full article
Post Media Co LtdThe Elements Condominium, Level 7
Hun Sen Boulevard
Phum Tuol Roka III
Sangkat Chak Angre Krom, Khan Meanchey
12353 Phnom Penh
Cambodia
Telegram: 092 555 741
Email: [email protected]