The Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 1st hosted the 33rd Anti-Drug Liaison Officials' Meeting for International Cooperation (ADLOMICO) at Vista Walkerhill in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. About 250 officials from Korea and abroad attended, including five international organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and delegations from 29 countries including Thailand and Vietnam.
The Anti-Drug Liaison Officials' Meeting for International Cooperation began in 1989 under the lead of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Over the past 37 years, it has operated as a forum where delegations from countries and international organizations participate to discuss cooperation on cross-border drug crime responses.
This meeting included UNODC, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Colombo Plan, and the Asia-Pacific Information Coordination Center for Combating Drug Crimes (APICC).
From overseas, 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries; 10 Asia-Pacific countries including the United States, China, and India; and nine European countries including France, Germany, and Italy attended.
In opening remarks, Park Gyu-hyeong, head of the Planning and Coordination Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, said, "Recently, drug crime organizations have been expanding their activities beyond national borders," and noted, "Methods are also becoming more sophisticated, such as drug crimes using online spaces and virtual assets."
Park added, "Even after the launch of the Public Prosecution Service, the prosecution will strengthen cooperation with domestic and foreign agencies to do its utmost to protect the public's health and safety from drugs."
At the opening ceremony, Hearts2Hearts, the idol group serving as youth drug prevention ambassadors for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, also attended and called for youth drug prevention and cooperation by the international community.
After the opening ceremony, the main program got underway. Participating countries are set to discuss global drug crime trends, major drug crime investigation cases in each country, and response measures to transnational drug crimes.
At this event, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office will also introduce key investigation achievements of the Government Joint Investigation Headquarters on Drug Crimes. The Korea Customs Service also plans to present customs drug control and international cooperation activities. The United States, China, Japan, and ASEAN member states will present each country's major drug crime investigation cases and response measures to transnational drug crimes.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office founded APICC in 2012 and has been sharing drug crime information with ASEAN countries. It has also built an "origin strike international cooperation system" by dispatching prosecution investigators to law enforcement agencies in major drug-originating countries to share information in real time, and is currently operating a real-time cooperation framework with six countries including Thailand and Vietnam.