THE Senior Officials Committee (SOC) Meeting of the Signatories to the MoU on Drug Control in the Greater Mekong Subregion (Mekong MOU) took place at Chatrium Hotel in Yangon yesterday.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Maj-Gen Aung Kyaw Kyaw said the Mekong MoU signed by the Mekong member states in 1993 serves as a crucial mechanism for combating the production, trafficking, and consumption of drugs within member countries. Member states have been actively implementing drug control measures in their respective regions, including providing drug addiction treatment, educating on preventive measures, enforcing suppression measures, reducing and eradicating poppy cultivation, promoting alternative development programmes, enhancing capacity-building initiatives, exchanging information, and carrying out joint operations.
The production, trafficking, and sale of synthetic drugs have become a concerning issue for countries in the region. The new synthetic drugs, such as “Happy Water,” are emerging daily, and ongoing arrests and seizures can also be seen.
The deputy minister also highlighted 40 special operations in combating drug cases between 2013 and 2024, and joint operations between Tatmadaw and the Customs carried out starting from 13 April 2025, participation of ethnic armed groups in drug trafficking, taking advantage of unstable political issues, and other challenges in investigating drug cases for new and different ways of transporting and production.
He called for timely information exchange among the member states to arrest the offenders, and pledged to participate in special operations together with the Mekong member states and regional countries, saying the country participated in the Safe Mekong Operation conducted from 1 June to 31 August 2025.
Then, 15 delegates led by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control Joint Secretary and 43 leaders and representatives of Mekong states and UNODC discussed 12 subregion projects, MoU financial issue, outcomes of session 68th commission on Narcotic Drugs, progresses of Mekong MoU working groups, work plans to be carried out in 2025-2026, and reviewed and approved the 13 subregion action plans. The meeting will continue on 17 October. — MNA/ KTZH
