INCB GRIDS Holds Regional Workshop on Public-Private Partnerships for Prevention of Dangerous Substance Trafficking through the Internet
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, 15-16 July 2024 - The Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) Programme of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) held a two-day regional workshop on Public-Private Partnerships for Preventing Dangerous Substance Trafficking through the Internet in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, from July 15-16, 2024.
The workshop aimed to enhance voluntary cooperation between governments and their private sector partners from the Internet-related service industry in Southeast Asia by facilitating networking among the relevant experts and practitioners from the two sectors. It built on the successes of the previous stakeholder consultations, expert group meetings, and inter-regional workshops organized by the INCB operational projects on the prevention of misuse of legitimate internet services for the trafficking of new psychoactive substances (NPS), non-medical synthetic opioids, and their related chemicals.
The event brought together 22 representatives from 7 governments (Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, United States of America, and Viet Nam) and 2 e-commerce companies (Lazada Singapore and Shopee Viet Nam) to share their respective experiences in preventing misuse of legitimate Internet-related services. The participants highlighted the problems of misuse of e-commerce platforms, social media, and encrypted messaging services for dangerous substance trafficking, and also discussed next steps for promoting voluntary cooperation between governments and their private sector partners.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Hoang Tam Hieu, Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam Counter Narcotics Police Department, highlighted the severity of online drug trafficking in Viet Nam and expressed the country's readiness to collaborate with other governmental agencies and private sectors to improve cyberspace management and advance countermeasures.
Photo: Mr. Hoang Tam Hieu delivering his speech
Mr. Samuel Juett, INL Program Coordinator at the INL Viet Nam Office, underscored the critical role of information exchange between governments and private entities. He emphasized that such collaboration was essential for addressing the challenges of online drug trafficking effectively and expressed gratitude to the participants and the organizing agencies, including Viet Nam CNPD and the GRIDS programme.
Photo: Mr. Samuel Juett delivering his speech
Mr. Fumio Ito, Manager of Project ION (New Psychoactive Substances), highlighted the GRIDS programme's commitment to enhancing cooperation and facilitating the sharing of information and intelligence between the public and private sectors. He addressed the global rise in new psychoactive substances and the exploitation of Internet-based platforms for trafficking, urging a united effort by governments and industry partners to address these issues both strategically and operationally.
Photo: Mr. Fumio Ito delivering his speech
Public sector representatives shared their experiences and case studies on online drug trafficking: their observations on the trends in dangerous substance trafficking and misuse of legitimate Internet services; the various modalities of information sharing with the private sector; and examples of successful interdiction of dangerous substances. Participants from the private sector discussed the various approaches in voluntarily monitoring their platforms to screen illicit substances and suspicious online vendors engaged in trafficking of such dangerous substances, implementing detailed customer due diligence procedures for customer on-boarding and utilization of machine learning and other advanced technologies to detect suspicious offers online.
At the end of the workshop, participants took part in a self-assessment exercise conducted through industry-specific guidance documents prepared using previous meetings' recommendations on the same topics, through which they could identify areas of improvement and potential practices to strengthen voluntary cooperation with each other.
Photo: Participants reviewing practical guidance for voluntary cooperation
The Board's Global Rapid Interdiction of Dangerous Substances (GRIDS) Programme and Project ION and OPIOIDS Project support Governments' capacity to respond to changing trafficking, illicit manufacture, marketing and sales of NPS, non-medical synthetic opioids and fentanyl-related substances by providing real-time communication, facilitating information exchange and intelligence development that interdict distribution of dangerous substances.
This event was made possible through generous support from the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) and Japan Government.
Click here to learn more about the GRIDS Programme
Click here to learn more about the OPIOIDS Project
Click here to learn more about the Project ION