UNODC executive director meets Surapong
The executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime met Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul Thursday and offered support to fight region's worsening organized crime and illicit drug trafficking trend
Yury Fedotov paid a visit to Surapong at the Foreign Ministry as part of the UNODC executive director’s first official visit to Southeast Asia.
Bangkok has been UNODC’s base of operations in the region since 1971 and the Thai capital is currently home to the UNODC Regional Centre.
Fedotov re-affirmed UNODC’s close partnerships with Thai Government institutions and he thanked Surapong for the country’s hospitality and financial contribution to UNODC. Fedotov pledged UNODC support to Thailand’s struggle against organised crimes and drug trafficking.
“The illicit manufacture, trafficking and use of opiates and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are the two most significant illicit drug threats in the ASEAN region today. Southeast Asia accounts for 50 per cent of the world’s methamphetamine seizures. The region is the world’s second largest producer of illicit opium poppy, after Afghanistan,” Fedotov said.
The Nation
