The People’s Court of HCM City on July 27 handed down five death sentences and four terms of life imprisonment to defendants involved in a major drug ring led by Van Kinh Duong.

The Ministry of Public Security’s Drug Police Department said on July 20 that they have busted a trans-national drug trafficking ring led by Kim Soon-sik, 60, from the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Police of Dien Bien district of the northwestern province of the same name on July 11 said they, together with relevant agencies, had seized a large haul of drugs from a transnational trafficking ring.

The Drug Crime Investigation Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security recently announced that it, together with relevant agencies, had busted three major drug trafficking rings.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy on May 27 issued a decision for the prosecution of a Taiwanese national for “trafficking drugs”, in line with Article 250 of the 2015 Criminal Code.

The HCMC Department of Customs has confiscated over 18 kilograms of ecstasy pills and marijuana hidden in packages sent from Europe to Vietnam.

The announcement came a week after the US accused Venezuela's leader of "narco-terrorism".

Two Taiwanese involved in a drug trafficking ring were arrested on December 20 while hiding in Ho Chi Minh City, police said on December 21.

Vietnamese and Taiwanese drug investigators have uncovered a massive transnational drug trafficking ring and have seized 446 packs of heroin worth more than US$6 million from a warehouse in HCMC.

Maritime smuggling is becoming more common among heroin traffickers according to an expert.

Police in some central provinces have found dozens of plastic bags containing a substance suspected to be heroin at local coast.

Three separate courts on Thursday handed death penalties to five people and life sentences to another seven who were found guilty of dealing drugs.

The People’s Court in northern Lang Son Province has sentenced four members of a drug gang to death for trafficking narcotics.

Investigative police in Dien Bien have arrested two suspects for their alleged involvement in a transnational drug trafficking ring, with 220 packs of heroin, weighing 77 kilograms, being seized.

The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City on October 7 sentenced eight defendants to death and another to life imprisonment for trafficking 379 heroin bricks weighing over 132kg and 55kg of methamphetamine.

The police and border guard forces in the northwestern province of Dien Bien on September 1 arrested three men for trafficking 50 kg of methamphetamine.

The People’s Court of central Quang Binh province on August 28 handed a death sentence to a Laos national who stood trial for trafficking 308.6 kg of methamphetamine in Vietnam.

General Nguyen Thanh Hong, a standing member of the National Security and Defense of the National Assembly Commission talks to Tiền Phong newspaper on the need to tighten the control of temporary resident cards for foreigners in Vietnam.

Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich attended the 13th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) in Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday, which ended with a joint declaration on security.

Director of the Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Department of Drug-related Crimes, Pham Van Cac, talks to Nhân Dân (People) newspaper about measures needed to fight drug crimes.