Karaoke parlor raids net 87 drug users in Saigon

Police entered the karaoke parlor called Victory on Ho Van Long Street in Binh Tan District and found customers throwing drug-related parties on the fifth and sixth floors of the facility.

They seized shisha pipes and white powder suspected to be synthetic drugs. Out of 182 people taken to the local police station, 83, including 44 men and 39 women, tested positive for banned substances.

At the same time, police also raided nearby karaoke parlor called Alibaba, where four customers tested positive for drug use.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on June 9 allowed karaoke parlors and discos to reopen after more than three months of shutdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

He asked law enforcement agencies to deal strictly with violations, especially drug trading and abuse, at such facilities.

Vietnamese authorities deal with around 20,000 cases involving drugs every year and arrest around 30,000 culprits. The country has some 250,000 registered addicts, though the actual figures are thought to be much higher.