The man was detained by HCMC police on Tuesday to be investigated for the illegal transport of goods across the border.
Previously, anti-corruption police in HCMC detected signs of a diamond smuggling ring through Tan Son Nhat airport. The diamonds would eventually be sold to shops in HCMC, authorities said.
On Oct. 23, the police and airport customs performed a check on the luggage of the man entering Vietnam from India. Inside a metal box, authorities found several smaller bags containing over 700 diamonds, both natural and manmade.
The man confessed that he brought the diamonds to Vietnam to sell them. Their estimated value is at tens of billions of Vietnamese dong (VND1 billion = $39,510).
An investigation is ongoing.