Pubdate: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 Source: Viet Nam News (Vietnam) Copyright: 2009 Vietnam News Agency Contact: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4984 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.) CORRUPT OFFICIALS HAMPER CITY'S DRUG-FIGHTING EFFORTS HCM CITY - The deployment of more sophisticated trading means and connivance of some local officials have made it more difficult for police to curb rising drug abuse and trade in HCM City, a senior police official has said. Colonel Phan Anh Minh, Deputy Director of HCM City Police, also said that the number of criminal cases relating to drugs in 2008 had increased by 36 per cent compared with 2007, mainly in the districts of 1, 2, 6, 11, Tan Binh, Tan Phu and Binh Chanh. As many as 20 per cent of addicts were using synthetic drugs and performing their deals mainly on phones, making it difficult for the police to crackdown on them, Minh said. Their job was made even more difficult by some local officials who were shielding the drug dealers. Poor co-ordination between concerned agencies of the city administration and that of neighboring provinces was yet another factor, Minh told a meeting hosted by the Chairman of the HCM City People's Committee, Le Hoang Quan, on Friday. The meeting, held to find solutions to the growing problem, was attended by the City Steering Committee on Drug Crime and Social Evils Prevention and the city police. Quan stressed the need for concerned agencies to take more drastic measures to fight drug-related crimes. He said any Party member who shielded drug dealing activities would receive serious punishment. The rate of re-addiction in the city has reached 15 per cent and the number of addicts in 2008 increased by more than 2,000 people, or 27.16 per cent, over the previous year, according to the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs. To prevent re-addiction, the city administration has instructed district authorities to focus on finding jobs for the rehabilitated, in order to help them reintegrate into the community, and to force relapsed addicts back into rehab centres.