Science in a suitcase: Testing for illicit drugs in Southeast Asia

The production and activity of methamphetamines and heroin, combined with the illegal dealing of antecedent chemicals needed to create illegal drugs, present a crucial danger to the countries building the Greater Mekong Sub-region. While law enforcement authorities transacting with these problems have normally lacked the right resources in order to rapidly and efficiently recognizes grasp substances, this has begun to become different by the help of UNODC’s Global SMART Programme.

The program Synthetic Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends – UNODC partners with police and customs organizations in the district to get them ready on the field drug-testing equipment so as to immediately recognize illegal drugs. The equipment permits law enforcement authorities to run particular site evaluation for illegal substances which includes narcotics like opium and heroin and psychotropic substances like amphetamines. UNODC also supplies antecedent examination equipment that helps distinguish the chemicals in the drug production.

UNODC introduced the Global SMART Program few years ago to increase the power of the members and authorities of the state in in East and Southeast Asia to produce, organize, examine and report synthetic substance and antecedent information, and to seek this evidence-based knowledge to the rules and program design and execution. Eleven countries in the region are already given assistance from UNODC through the Global SMART Programme which includes Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

B. Jeong