VietNamNet Bridge – Customs officials in HCM City discovered 40 shipments of various drugs in the first six months of 2018 and seized 54.5kg.

Customs officials in HCM City discovered 40 shipments of various drugs in the first six months of 2018 and seized 54.5kg.— Photo http://thoibaotaichinhvietnam.vn

It included 412g of cocaine, 89g of heroin; 19.8kg of MDMA, 34.2kg of cannabis, and two new types of drugs, Delta-9 Tetrahydrocanabinol and Alprazolam, according to a recent report by the city Customs Bureau.

Huynh Nam, chief of the bureau’s drug enforcement team, told Nguoi Lao Dong (the Labourer) newspaper that foreign and local drug lords have collaborated to set up drug gangs and transnational crime organisations that are operating in a sophisticated manner.

The drug rings have been using air services and postal and express services to send drugs into Vietnam, a part of which is sold in this country and the rest sent abroad again.

Customs officers have found and seized a number of large drug shipments coming from the US, Canada and European countries by air and postal and express services to Vietnam and consignments of drugs and precursors destined for Australia.

False personal papers have been used to complete customs formalities for such shipments to evade the law if the drugs are discovered by authorities.

Last Tuesday (24 July 2018) customs officers at the Tan Cang Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau found a shipment of 17 containers suspicious and decided to inspect it. They found 119kg of a white powder among scrap steel, and tests showed it was high-quality cocaine worth VND700-800 billion (US$30.2-34.5 million).

In a press release on Wednesday, Pomina Steel JSC said its subsidiary Pomina Steel 2 had signed a contract to buy 355 tonnes of scrap steel from Stamcorp International, but denied any knowledge of the cocaine.

The Ba Ria-Vung Tau police said this was the largest ever drug haul in the province. 

Source: VNS