Vietnam busts 2,000 drug-related crimes in just a month

By Toan Dao   August 10, 2016 | 07:42 pm PT
Vietnam busts 2,000 drug-related crimes in just a month
Weapons seized from a drug smuggler's home in June. Photo provided to VnExpress by local police
The country takes a tough stance on drugs, and perpetrators may face the death penalty.

Vietnam’s law enforcement agencies uncovered 2,107 drug-related cases and arrested 2,775 criminals in June as part of the government's anti-drug action month and on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 26).

About 68kg of drug, 58kg of opium, 44 guns and 434 bullets were seized by police, border guards, coast guards and customs forces during the month, according to a report from Tieng Chuong (The Bell), the website of Vietnam’s National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Control.

Locations with high rates of drug–related crimes included Hanoi, Hai Phong, Son La, Lang Son, Nam Dinh, Bac Giang, Dien Bien, Lao Cai and Hoa Binh in the north, Nghe An, Quang Tri and Thanh Hoa in the central region and Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai in the south.

Cross-border drug trafficking

Hot spots for drug trafficking in June were at the country's borders with Laos and China, according to police.

Vietnam's northern border (with China) has become a hub for synthetic drug trafficking, with 983kg of drugs seized in 2015, an increase of 631kg compared to the previous year, according to the sixth bilateral meeting on drug control between Vietnam and China on July 28.

Drugs entering Vietnam come primarily from the "Golden Triangle": Myanmar Laos and Cambodia. A court in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son has sentenced 11 people to death for smuggling nearly 280kg (617 pounds) of heroin from Vietnam to China between 2013 and 2014.

Two other defendants got life sentences after an 8-day trial that ended on Monday in Lang Son, which borders China.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine 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.

Related news:

Drug trafficking and commercial fraud rife at Vietnam – Laos border

Vietnam sentences 11 to death for heroin trafficking

 
 
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