General Lê Văn Cương. — Photo tienphong.vn

General Lê Văn Cương, speaks to Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper on lessons learned from the deadly raid on a drug den in Lóng Luông Commune of the northern province of Sơn La.

Though it was difficult, the Lóng Luông haven for drug dealers in Vân Hồ District, Sơn La Province was finally destroyed. What led to the final victory of the Vietnamese police force?

The fight against drug crimes is the most dangerous among the dozens of fights against crimes.

We all know drug criminals always work in a well-organised gang. And the Lóng Luông case featured a very special and well organised one, in terms of both the number of criminals as well as its trans-border operation.

With this victory, the police forces have saved hundreds of young people from the ‘white death’ and won high acclaim from the public for the bravery and sacrifice of the public security forces.

What did we learn from this incident?

We all know those drug dealers have been well organised and operated from Lóng Luông for many years. Through this case, I can say that our fight against drug trafficking has been going on for several decades nationwide, in some regions the fight has been successful, but in some others, it has not been up to expectations.

In our society, drug dens have been considered ulcers in our society. In many localities, every one, including local authorities, know about their operation, but drug dealers are still free, as whistleblowers are afraid they will not be protected. What has happened in Lóng Luông was a good lesson awakening people and authorities from the central Government down to provinces that they need to improve the people’s material and spiritual conditions. In the capacity as a researcher, I would like to call upon the Party and Government to reiterate their responsibility and obligation toward socio-economic development and the improvement of the living conditions and the spiritual lives of Vietnamese people, including ethnic minorities living in remote regions.

Following the Lóng Luông case, don’t you think we should conduct a thorough review of weak localities along our border areas?

Lóng Luông is a border commune, in Vân Hồ District, of the northern province of Sơn La.

Following the raid of the drug den in Lóng Luông, I think that the Government needs to organise a special meeting to review how many ‘white areas’ or areas facing special difficulties in socio-economic conditions like Lóng Luông. From such a review the Government could develop plans to help locals improve their living conditions.

In my opinion, the Government should focus efforts to improve the material and spiritual lives of the local people.

First, the Government should invest in infrastructure development and improve the people’s living condition. Parallel with that the Government should develop the basic system in all hamlets and communes along the border areas while adopting special policies to support hamlets and communes which are the most disadvantaged communities.

Through the Lóng Luông case, the Government and particularly the Ministry of Public Security should adopt specific policies for civil servants and the armed forces who are working in disadvantaged areas and regions. It is the responsibility of the State! — VNS