Drug dealers masquerade as tourist family in Da Lat

By Truong Ha, Hoai Thanh February 25, 2024 | 11:39 pm PT

Dang Cong Trung (L) and Phan Huu Nghia at a police station in Lam Dong for alleged drug trafficking. Photo by VnExpress/Hoai Thanh

Several people were arrested by police of the Central Highlands' Lam Dong Province after masquerading as a family visiting Da Lat, in order to transport a kilogram of methamphetamine.

Dang Cong Trung, 34, Phan Huu Nghia, 40, Nguyen Thi Lan, 48, Nguyen Cong Hien, 47 and three others were arrested on Friday for drug dealing.

The police became suspicious when they saw Lan and Hien, a couple, getting rich quickly, owning large amounts of cash, houses and cars, yet having no stable jobs. They were also seen interacting with drug addicts.

Lan and Hien allegedly cooperated with Trung's group to transport drugs from HCMC to Lam Dong. They visited multiple places and met with many people before trading large amounts of drugs after Tet.

Trung and Nghia bought meth and rented a car to travel to Lam Dong.

When they arrived at Duc Trong District in Lam Dong, Trung invited a girl and her son to masquerade as a family, before visiting several places in Da Lat as tourists.

On Thursday last week, Trung brought a kilogram of meth to Lan's house, but was ambushed by police.

During the raid, police found three more drug packages, several bullets and over VND400 million ($16,200).

Trung confessed to police, saying he knew the local geography and had many connections in Lam Dong, so he tried to think of ways to sell drugs to Lan and Hien for profit.

The investigation is ongoing.