camera systems under the Grant Aid for Cooperation on Counter-Terrorism and Security Enhancement, $ ^{63} $ while continuing to dispatch experts with a view to improving maritime law enforcement capacity.

With regard to the Philippines, Japan helped strengthen the Philippine Coast Guard during the period from FY2002 to FY2007 as an effort to tackle frequent maritime accidents, environmental pollution caused by stranded tankers and other factors, piracy, and drug deals on the sea. Specifically, Japan provided approximately 2,000 officers of the Philippine Coast Guard with opportunities such as training on methods of arrest, seminars on maritime rescue capacity building including combined exercises with the Japan Coast Guard, and exercises to clean up drained oil, to rescue the drowned, to evacuate ships and to extinguish a fire on either their own or others ships.

## (8) International Organized Crimes

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With the advancement of globalization, development of high-tech devices, and increased human mobility, among other factors, large-scale and systematic international organized crimes, which are committed across national borders, are having a serious impact on the maintenance of security. Such crimes include illegal trafficking of drugs and weapons, smuggling of stolen goods, corporate crimes and economic crimes such as fraud and usurpations, counterfeiting of currency and credit cards, corruption, financial crimes such as tax evasion and money laundering, prostitution, illegal immigration, as well as human trafficking of women and children. The methods of international organized crimes have become even more sophisticated than before. Regarding international organized crimes which transcend national borders, there is a limit to the countermeasures which can be achieved through the efforts of one country alone. It is necessary, along with each country's efforts to enhance its countermeasures, to provide capacity building and other supports in the area of justice and law enforcement for developing countries to eliminate legal loopholes.

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## Support for Drug Countermeasures

The drug problem is a serious global issue that poses a direct threat to people's lives and livelihoods, and inhibits sound socio-economic development. It is an issue that must be addressed through coordinated efforts of the international community. In the interest of domestic concerns also, Japan must actively promote international cooperation for measures to combat drugs.

As for bilateral assistance, Japan is providing support to prevent drug-related crimes and enhance regulatory capabilities in regions where drugs that are supplied to Japan are being illegally manufactured. Projects for such support have been carried out through NGOs or in other forms. One example in FY2007 is Japan’s cooperation to build treatment centers for drug addicts in Viet Nam. In Columbia, in Central and South America, Japan helped construct vocational training centers to introduce crops that substituted narcotics.

In addition, Japan annually contributes to the fund managed and operated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which was established to facilitate international cooperation in the fields of drugs and crimes. In FY2007, Japan contributed US$1.95 million. Utilizing these funds, assistance was provided for projects such as enhancing crackdowns on illegal drug trafficking at national borders of Southeast Asian countries and developing the rural areas in Myanmar to reduce dependence on poppy cultivation.

## ☑ Support for Human Trafficking Countermeasures

Japan has been implementing a variety of measures in accordance with Japan’s Action Plan of Measures to Combat Trafficking in Persons adopted in 2004. So far, the government of Japan has held discussions with the relevant authorities of other countries, international organizations and NGOs toward the effective prevention and eradication of human trafficking, and consultations with Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Romania and other countries were held in FY2007.

Moreover, through the Trust Fund for Human Security and other means, Japan has provided assistance for various projects aimed at eradicating human trafficking. In FY2007, Japan supported Thailand’s efforts for human trafficking victims, using part of US$50,000 donated to the crime sector of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

## Support for Human Smuggling Countermeasures

Forged or altered passports are frequently used in international organized crime. Japan aims at developing mutual