Despite tighter travel restrictions to stop the spread of Covid-19, leading ASEAN officials in charge of transnational crimes reported an increase in transnational crimes for the area.

The 22nd ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) and other associated sessions held over three days from July 19–21 via video conference reviewed the rise in transnational crimes in the area.

In a news release on the results of the SOMTC meeting on July 21, the Ministry of Interior stated that the types of crimes that had increased were drug trafficking, cross-border removal, human trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering, and other global economic crimes.

“All of these crimes are key to the agendas of senior law enforcement officials of ASEAN member states, which discussed finding common solutions for effectively preventing and combating them to achieve security, development and prosperity for the whole ASEAN region,” the statement said.