ABUSE of amphetamine type stimulants or ATS is rampant in the region and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has declared East and South-east Asia the world's largest market for such party drugs.
To deal with this problem, Mr Victor Lye, a member of the National Council Against Drug Abuse, said that it was essential that drug enforcement agencies cooperate to curb the production and trafficking of such illicit drugs.
Speaking on Monday to 21 delegates attending a regional training programme at the Parkroyal Hotel, he pointed out that the recent global ATS assessment by UNODC highlighted that its manufacture and trafficking is increasing in the region even though the global market for ATS appear to have stabilised.
To satisfy the increase in demand, 'mega' sized clandestine laboratories have sprouted up, capable of producing more than 1,000kg of drugs every production cycle, compared to the previous 4.5kg output of 'super-labs'.
'It is therefore important that the training programme also cover operations of such labs and the manufacturing of synthetic drugs', said Mr Lye.
Mr Gil T. Pabilona of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is eager to learn more.
He told The Straits Times that drugs such as Ice and Ecstasy have overtaken cannabis as the most abused drug in his country.
The problem of synthetic drugs have also mushroomed in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
While cannabis still tops the chart in Indonesia, synthetic drugs have displaced heroin in second place, said Mr Md Supardi of the Indonesian National Narcotics Board.
'These drugs are brought in from neigbouring countries and we must cooperated with their enforcement agencies to disable the drug syndicates,' he said.
While arrests of abusers of party drugs, like Ecstasy, Erimin-5 and ketamine have declined steadily in Singapore, they still make up more than 30 per cent of the 954 abusers arrested in the first half of this 2008.
In addition to shedding light on illicit synthetic drugs, the five-day training programme will also include lectures on rehabilitation and preventive drug education.
The delegates, who are also from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar will also learn about the Singapore experience in fighting the drug menace and Australia's strategy in combating drug trafficking.
Jointly organised by the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Australian Federal Police, it is the ninth programme held since 2000.
Said Mr Supardi: 'This is a good opportunity to learn and I hope to pick up some useful tips'.
'Only by working smarter can we get rid of drugs.'
