Interpol notice issued for Vietnamese drug queen

Vietnamese police say 61-year-old Vu Hoang Oanh is the leader of a massive drug trafficking ring that transported narcotics from Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City.

When the ring was busted in May, police with the drug crimes fighting division under the Ministry of Public Security arrested seven people and seized 39 packs of heroin, 30 kilograms of methamphetamine and 100,000 ecstasy pills.

Oanh had already fled overseas then.

Information about international arrest warrant and image of Vu Hoang Oanh posted on Interpol's website.

Police officers say Oanh has close connections with big names in the Cambodian underworld, with whom she cooperated to transport a large quantity of drugs to HCMC through a border gate in the Mekong Delta province of Long An before they were distributed to other areas.

She was also found to have rented a casino venue in Cambodia just a kilometer from the border with Vietnam and organized illegal gambling activities there.

In the first five months this year, Vietnamese police have confiscated approximately 880 kilograms of heroin, 500,000 ecstasy pills, 1.3 tons of cannabis and 2.5 tons of the chewing herb Khat (Catha edulis).

Compared to the same period last year, the amount of confiscated heroin has doubled and that of ecstasy pills increased by 30 percent, the ministry said.

Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics, but it also has some of the world’s toughest drug laws.

Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamines face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.