Police in Ho Chi Minh City have arrested a Colombian woman carrying more than 1.6 kilograms of cocaine in her bag.
Claudia Stephany Soracipa Monroy, 21, arrived on Sunday night after flying in from Dubai.
When checking her bag, customs officers at the airport found the drug.
![]() |
Claudia Stephany Soracipa Monroy has been arrested for smuggling cocaine to Ho Chi Minh City. Photo provided by Ho Chi Minh City Customs |
Monroy, a mother and college student, said she needed money to pay tuition and take care of her child. She agreed to work as a mule and carry the drug from the capital city of Bogota to a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
She was hired by an American who she had little information about.
Under Vietnamese law, a person convicted of smuggling 100 grams of heroin or cocaine or 300 grams of other drugs will almost always be sentenced to death.
Related news:
> Cops shoot out drug runner's tires in northern Vietnam
> Australian nationals busted for leading drug ring between Cambodia, Vietnam