In the shadow of glitzy casinos and neon lights, Bavet, a bustling town on Cambodia’s eastern frontier, lies a web of organized crime. Once known as a gateway for traders crossing from neighbouring Viet Nam, the city has earned a more sinister reputation in recent years—as a main artery in Southeast Asia’s drug trade.
But this threat is evoking a concerted response throughout Southeast Asia. Border control and law enforcement officials across the Mekong subregion have intensified collaboration this year under Operation Mekong Borders, a strategic initiative implemented with the support of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“The forests around Bavet are very convenient for criminals, who have their networks and keep luring people in, but we also have ours,” said Meas Vyrith, Secretary General of Cambodia’s National Authority for Combatting Drugs (NACD). “We need to understand the tricks of smugglers, which they update from year to year.”
By coordinating operations, investing in advanced technologies, sharing intelligence, and enhancing the skills of border forces, agencies are working to dismantle drug routes in the region, striking back against organized crime. At the centre of this effort is UNODC’s Border Liaison Office (BLO) network, which connects frontline law enforcement from key border towns like Bavet with counterparts across other towns in the region to detect, intercept, and neutralize threats at the borders. For years, the BLO network has proactively reduced the movement of illicit drugs across borders and sent a strong message: that the region is united and resolute in dismantling the criminal groups behind them.
“The benefit of a network is information sharing,” Vyrith said. “We need to get to the source. Seizing drugs is good, but it does not help the overall problem. It’s like covering the hole in a shower. The water will keep coming out from the rest of the holes. It is the same thing for drug trafficking. We need to find the source so that we can close the tap, and that can only be done through collaboration.”
The drug trafficking routes between Cambodia and Viet Nam are part of a larger, intricate network that spans Southeast Asia. Bavet, on the border with Viet Nam, is a critical link in this chain. The town’s porous border and rapid development make it an ideal transit point for drug syndicates with heroin, methamphetamine, and other synthetic drugs being smuggled into Viet Nam and beyond. Vice versa, drugs have been intercepted originating from Viet Nam to feed Bavet’s growing casino industry.
The proximity of countries in the Mekong —Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam— makes it a hotspot for traffickers. Weak law enforcement in some parts, vast remote areas, and cross-border criminal networks allow narcotics to flow with relative ease, feeding the growing drug demand in urban centres and pushing the limits of regional security cooperation.
“One country alone cannot succeed,” said Riku Lehtovuori, Regional Coordinator of Law Enforcement and Training Affairs at UNODC’s Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “This fight requires a collective effort to reach a collective goal, which is to stop the trafficking. How can we do this? One, by bringing the state-of-the-art knowledge and resources down to the operational level, and two, by having communication channels in place that allow law enforcement agencies to share information and take coordinated action.”
Click here to learn more about UNODC’s work on border management.
Click here to see more photos of border inspections on Cambodia’s eastern frontier.