KL talks tackle trans-national crime in Asean

Among issues discussed was illegal wildlife trading and drug trafficking, to free Asean from such offences.

Deputy Interior Minister Sutee Markboon led assistant national police chief Pol Lt-General Dechnarong Suticharnbancha and other Thai officials from related agencies to attend the meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Dechnarong said the 5th ASEAN-Summit, held in Bangkok in 1995, managed to gain co-operation in the region to tackle drug trafficking.

Consequently, two conferences were held as regional mechanisms to suppress trans-national crimes; the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC), which was held annually, and the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) which included dialogue with partners from China, Japan and South Korea.

Dechnarong said the Thai representatives Monday pushed for eradication of the illegal wildlife trade and logging to be part of the SOMTC co-operation dialogue – which would first require AMMTC’s unanimous vote. He revealed that this week’s event, with all members present, also resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding on trans-national crime, particularly the expansion of extremist groups and radicalism.