PRESS RELEASE

November 16, 2006

Vietnam Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on combating transnational drug-related crime.

On November 16, 2006, the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on combating transnational drug-related crime.   DEA Regional Director Andre W. Kellum and MPS General Police Department Director Gen. Tran Van Thao signed the agreement at a ceremony in Hanoi attended by US Ambassador Michael W. Marine and representatives from Vietnam MPS drug enforcement agencies.

The MOU is intended to improve information sharing and coordinated operations between DEA and MPS, as well as strengthen and consolidate existing cooperative efforts to combat the transnational drug trafficking and money laundering organizations that threaten both Vietnam and the United States.

The MOU results in part from an initiative first voiced at the June 2005 meeting between MPS Vice-Minister Nguyen Van Huong and DEA Deputy Administrator Michelle Leonhart at DEA headquarters in Washington, DC.  It also reflects the determination of DEA, since establishing an office in Vietnam in 2000, to seek every opportunity to work with MPS to strengthen drug law enforcement in Vietnam.

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