On June 8, the Long Bien District Police Agency reported that a French national named Tiberghien Frederec, born 1966, is the owner of a cannabis garden of more than 3,000 square meters in the middle of the Red River, in Ngoc Thuy Ward.

Previously, on June 5, the police inspected the area and seized 115 fresh cannabis plants totaling 34kg in weight and 40,268g of dried cannabis.

According to the police, Tiberghien Frederec, an employee of LAVIE Vu Linh Company in Vu Linh commune, Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province, leased 3,000sq.m of land on the alluvial ground on the Red River to plant cannabis.

The case is under further investigation.

Cannabis is a banned narcotic substance in Vietnam. Those growing cannabis on a small scale can be fined VND2-5 million ($86-215). Those found cultivating 500 to 3,000 plants face jail terms of six months to three years, while those working on a bigger scale could spend up to seven years in jail.

Quyet Nguyen

Drug crime on the rise as pandemic continues: official

Major General Nguyen Van Vien, director of the Drug-related Crime Investigation Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, talks to the Vietnam Government Portal chinhphu.vn about the drug-related crime situation