The Lao government has fired a high-ranking police officer in southern Savannakhet province for allegedly underreporting drug seizures and selling the remainder for personal profit, but didn’t charge him with a criminal offense, officials said.
On Jan. 25, the Lao Ministry of Public Security announced that it had fired a lieutenant colonel from the Savannakhet Provincial Police Department and disciplined four of his subordinates for underreporting seizures of methamphetamines and other drugs, and dealing the surplus.
The rare removal of a leading police official has made waves in impoverished Laos, where corruption is rampant and government officials enjoy near-total immunity from criminal acts.
But members of the public were upset that the disciplined police officers – like many other officials accused of corruption – aren’t facing prosecution.
They told RFA Lao that people in positions of authority who break the law should be criminally charged, just like any other person, rather than given a slap on the wrist.
“If [officials] break the law … they should not only be fired, but also charged with a criminal offense and jailed if found guilty,” said one citizen. “Just because they have power, doesn’t mean they are immune from justice. Everybody must be treated equally under the same laws.”
An official from the province confirmed the disciplinary action in an interview with RFA on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Public Security dismissed the head of a police unit who is a lieutenant colonel, and disciplined four lower-ranking police officers – demoting and relocating them,” said the official who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity citing security concerns.
A police officer who worked with the five also confirmed their punishment in comments made to RFA.
“Only the head of the police unit was sacked,” he said. “The other four are still working for the provincial police department, but were demoted and relocated to other positions.”
The officer said that the lieutenant colonel was “not charged with a criminal offense” because “being fired is the most severe punishment” he could receive.
He said public security officials from the central government had traveled down to Savannakhet to personally oversee the disciplinary process.
A drop in rankings
Failure to hold officials accountable for corruption is an unfortunately common practice in Laos.
In 2022, RFA reported that the Ministry of Public Security disciplined 11 police officers by demoting them and relocating them within the capital Vientiane Police Department for allegedly accepting bail money and bribes from the accused and prisoners.
A similar case occurred in 2021, when the ministry dismissed two police officers – a captain and a lieutenant – who were said to have been involved in smuggling goods, illegal gambling, and allowing foreigners to enter the country without visas.
None of the officers were ever charged for their alleged crimes.
In its 2023 index, released on Jan. 30, graft watchdog Transparency International ranked Laos 136th out of 180 countries in terms of corruption perception, down from 126th a year earlier. The ranking placed Laos on par with Gabon, Mali and Paraguay.
Last year, the Lao State Inspection Authority said it had identified nine corrupt officials responsible for embezzling US$36 million in state funds. From 2021 to 2022, it reported that 74 officials had committed financial crimes, leading to a loss of US$52 million.
The official numbers are likely a drop in the bucket compared to what the state actually loses to graft on a yearly basis.
Part of the problem, observers say, is that not enough is being done by the central government to address the root causes of corruption in Laos.
No solutions offered
Plenty of officials have made it known that they are aware of the problems of corruption and immunity within the Lao government and among those who hold positions of power.
Gen. Vilay Lakhamfong, the Lao minister of public security, recently acknowledged that “some police officers abuse their power and position by facilitating drug trafficking and smuggling, while others set up checkpoints on highways and demand bribes from motorists.”
But the minister provided no details on what measures the government plans to put in place to deal with such offenses.
Even speaking privately, officials have appeared at a loss for how to rein in fraud in Laos.
RFA recently spoke with a member of the Lao State Inspection Authority who also expressed frustration over what he called “widespread corruption” in the country.
“Many local and central government officials do everything in their own interest,” he said. “Our laws have loopholes allowing officials to commit corruption. Our inspection agency has found many corrupt officials, and we’ve fired and demoted many of them.”
However, the state inspection official failed to elaborate on how the government should address the reasons behind the problem.
Consequences and root causes
Other citizens RFA spoke with said it is no secret that the authorities facilitate the drug trade and other forms of smuggling in Laos.
“Drug trafficking is on the news every day – the smugglers ship tons of drugs through Laos and then across the border to Thailand,” he said. “They can’t just do this by themselves, they must work with the police.”
But he complained that Lao government employees, including police officers, are paid low wages, making them susceptible to bribes they use to pad their incomes.
“They receive salaries that aren’t enough to live on,” he said. “If they made enough, corruption wouldn’t exist.”
Others have called for stricter punishments to send a message to would-be offenders.
At a meeting of the Lao National Assembly last year, a member of parliament urged the government to do more to crack down on graft, saying that alleged offenders should face criminal charges, at the very least.
“Our government has failed to tackle corruption,” the lawmaker said. “It doesn’t matter how powerful or high up an official is – he or she must be punished. So far, we haven’t done that.”
In the meantime, ordinary citizens are paying the price for the government’s unwillingness to solve the problem, a resident of Champassak province told RFA.
“Our laws are ineffective,” the resident said. “And it is because of corruption that our country has never been developed.”
Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.