Man caught with over 15 kg of drugs

They took Nguyen Van Nghia, 34, in as he was leaving his house in Nghi Loc District and getting into a taxi.

They found 330 g of heroin and 12 synthetic drug pills on him. A search of his house turned up 13 kg of meth, 2.1 kg of heroin and 50 pills.

Various drugs, including meth and heroin, are found upon a search on a man and his house in Nghe An Province in central Vietnam, October 12, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Vu.

Nghia, a mechanic, rode a motorbike to Que Phong District that borders Laos last Saturday to pick up a suitcase stuffed with drugs, hid it in his house and was waiting for a chance to transport it to the south, authorities said.

Vietnam is a key trafficking hotspot for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar and the world's second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.

From Vietnam, the drugs are taken to Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea and even Europe, Australia and Latin America.

In Vietnam, those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.