drugs – VIETNAM STAR

Drug trafficker arrested Vietnam's central province

Vietnam Star — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 06:00:45 +0000

Border guards of Vietnam’s central Thanh Hoa province have detained a local man for trafficking seven cakes of heroin and 56,000 pills of synthetic drug, Vietnam News Agency reports.
The 55-year-old man from the province’s Quan Son district was caught red-handed transporting the illicit drugs on a national road in the mountainous district on Thursday.
Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for drugs from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, which is the world’s second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.
Drug trafficking and consumption have persisted and worsened in Vietnam over the last few years, despite it having some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws, including death sentences for drug smuggling and trading.
According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.

Vietnam police officer helps woman frame boyfriend with planted drugs: police

Daisy Nguyen — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 11:27:43 +0000

A former Vietnamese policewoman allegedly received VND1 billion (US$43,000) while she was still in the force to help a woman plant heroin in her boyfriend’s car and put him in prison, Hanoi police said on Thursday.
Police in the Vietnamese capital city said that they had requested the indictment of Nguyen Thi Vung, a former officer of the anti-trafficking department under the Ministry of Public Security, for “narcotics stockpiling” and “slander.”
Vung played the role of an accomplice that actively helped a local woman frame her boyfriend with planted drugs in a false arrest case in 2016, Hanoi police said, adding that the former policewoman was driven by a motive for personal gain.
Nguyen Thi Van, 37, and Nguyen Van Thien, 44, were involved in a romantic relationship when conflict between them led Van to seek advice from Vung, a friend of hers, to have Thien arrested in 2016.
Van agreed to pay Vung VND1 billion ($43,000) for her help with supplying the narcotics that the woman eventually placed in Thien’s car, unbeknownst to her boyfriend.
As part of the agreement, the policewoman also alerted police officers to search the man’s vehicle after the illegal drugs had been planted.
The transaction was disguised as a repayment of a loan that Van had taken from Vung.
Thien was arrested on October 28, 2016 and released one week later after police found no evidence to suggest he had anything to do with the heroin found in his car.
The crime of stockpiling 0.1-5 grams of heroin carries a prison term of up to five years, according to the Penal Code of Vietnam.
After his release, Thien spent months collecting evidence, including chat messages and recordings of phone conversations between Van and Vung discussing their plot, and submitted it to police investigators.
After examining these pieces of evidence, Hanoi police concluded that Van was the mastermind of the crime plot, while Vung played an active role in helping Van succeed with her plan.
Police in Nam Tu Liem District, police officers launched a criminal investigation against Van for “stockpiling narcotics” and “slander” in April 2018.
Vung, who was already dismissed from the police force and stripped of all her ranks, has been arrested and placed under criminal investigation on the same charges.
The policewoman has so far denied any wrongdoing.
Source: Tuoitrenews

Saigon bar raid nets hundreds of drug users

Daisy Nguyen — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 13:50:27 +0000

Over 200 patrons tested positive for banned substances at a Saigon bar following a Wednesday raid, local police say.
Hundreds of police officers raided the 030-X8 bar in Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1 and found over 300 people inside with signs of drug abuse.
Some tried to throw their drugs away and flee the bar, but they were stopped and taken to the police station for tests.
Many packets of drugs, including ecstasy, were found on the dance floor. Several employees of the bar are also suspected of having had ecstasy in their possession.
The use of synthetic drugs has been on the rise among partying youth in Vietnam, multiple reports have noted. Last September, seven people died of suspected drug overdose at a music concert in Hanoi.
23,500 known drug users were recorded by Saigon authorities as of last year, a 7 percent increase from 2017.
The city has become an increasingly used transit point for drugs, because of its well connected road, marine and air transport services, said Phan Anh Minh, deputy director of the HCMC Police department.
Vietnamese authorities deal with around 20,000 cases involving drugs every year and arrest around 30,000 people. The country has some 250,000 registered addicts, but the actual figures are thought to be much higher.
Drug addiction has long been considered a “social evil” in the country, and a controversial policy of forced abstinence and re-education has been adopted to deal with it.
Source: Vnexpress

Drug mule shoots and kills border officer in central Vietnam

Vietnam Star — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 13:37:39 +0000

A Vietnamese border officer was killed and two others were wounded in a gunfight with drug smugglers on the Laos border Monday.
The three officers from the drug and crime prevention task force in Thanh Hoa Province were patrolling the border in Thuong Xuan District that afternoon when they spotted a suspicious-looking man with a bag.
As they stopped the man and checked him, they were ambushed by another man hiding in the forest nearby. The three shot back but could not catch the two men, who fled toward Laos.
All three officers were injured in the shooting. They managed to collect the bag the man had carried, which contained 12,000 synthetic drug pills.
Major Vi Van Nhat, 36, died in hospital that evening due to loss of blood. Captain Vu Xuan Phuong and Sub Lieutenant Nguyen Binh Minh are still in hospital.
A manhunt has been launched for the smugglers.
Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the world’s second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.
Vietnamese authorities deal with around 20,000 cases involving drugs every year and arrest around 30,000 people. The country has some 250,000 registered users, but the actual figures are thought to be much higher.
While heroin has long been common among drug users, the use of synthetic drugs like meth and ecstasy has been rising of late, especially among partying youth.
Source: Vnexpress

Seven test positive for drugs in Ho Chi Minh City police inspection of truck drivers

Loc Truong — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 10:14:42 +0000

Police in Ho Chi Minh City have carried out an inspection of multiple trailer truck drivers over the past few days, after which several tested positive for drugs and were slapped with a fine or sent to local rehab centers.

Officers examined 30 drivers and driver assistants of container trucks in Truong Tho Ward, Thu Duc District on Sunday afternoon.

The inspection took place for about two hours, during which they were given a clinical urine test.

The result revealed that four people had consumed drugs before driving.

In one specific case, Nguyen Cong Thien, a 28-year-old truck driver, and his assistant, 19-year-old Le Ngoc Bao, both tested positive for drugs.

Officers also found a machete and several tools commonly used in the consumption of synthetic drugs inside their vehicle.

A similar inspection also took place in the neighborhood on Saturday afternoon, after which three drivers tested positive for narcotics.

Another driver was caught using a fake license.

According to an officer, the drivers who were found using drugs were escorted to the police station to have their identity verified.

Those who have a legitimate place of residence were slapped with a fine and will be subject to regular supervision from local authorities.

The others were sent to a rehabilitation center in Cu Chi District in the same city.

The inspection followed a serious accident in the Mekong Delta province of Long An on January 2, when a container truck crashed into 21 motorbikes stopping at a red light.

Four people were killed and 18 others injured in the crash.

The 32-year-old truck driver later tested positive for heroine and alcohol.

Khuat Viet Hung, vice-chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, said he would ask authorities in all provinces and cities to beef up their management and inspection of container truck and passenger bus drivers regarding the use of drugs and alcohol in the first quarter of this year.

According to a report on Tuoi Tre

Chinese drugs containing human flesh in Vietnam

Vietnam Star — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 10:06:49 +0000

Following the news that the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON)’s official confirmation last month that a Chinese drug sold in the African country contained human flesh, the Drug Administration of Vietnam affirmed human flesh Chinese drugs are not allowed to circulate in the country.

In its document to departments of health across the country, the country’s drug administration said that Chinese drugs in the form of capsules containing human flesh are not licensed or circulated in Vietnam, in response to recent reports of a drug.
To protect people, the administration requested health departments to increase information of the drug as well as encourage people not to buy or take drugs without clear indication of origins.
When discovering unoriginal drugs, people should report to relevant authorities of any discovery of drugs advertised to contain human flesh in Vietnam, the health watchdog said.
Customs agencies, market management board, police in localities liaise to detect drugs and issue penalties to violators according to the present regulations.
The National Intelligence Agency of Nigeria has lately verified that the drugs are filled with powdered human flesh. The manufacturers claim that the capsules can boost stamina, cure cancer, diabetes and some other terminal diseases.
By NGUYEN QUOC – Translated by UYEN PHUONG
Read full article on SGGP

Drugs kill seven at Vietnam music festival – Said Hanoi’s officials

Vietnam Star — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 01:45:42 +0000

Seven Vietnamese have died and five are in a coma after taking drugs at an electronic dance music festival in Hanoi, officials said Monday, as authorities scrambled to trace the substance.

The Sunday night disaster, believed to be the deadliest drug-related incident in the country, shocked the Communist nation´s conservative capital. Synthetic drug use is on the rise but remains largely underground among a relatively niche group of hard-partying youth. The News reports.

The victims, all Vietnamese, tested positive for an unspecified drug, prompting officials to ban all electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in the capital.

“Police investigators are trying to figure out what type of drug that was,” deputy director of Hanoi police Nguyen Van Vien told reporters Monday.

Officials said the dead were all in their 20s, while the five people in a coma in intensive care are aged between 18 and 30.

If the deaths are confirmed as drug-related it could be one of the worst cases anywhere in recent memory of mass narcotics-related deaths at a music festival.

Sunday night´s “Trip To The Moon” festival was hosted by Vietnam Electronic Weekend in Hanoi´s upscale West Lake, a neighbourhood popular among expats, teachers and youth for its nightlife.

Commuters pass the entrance to the West Lake Water Park in Hanoi where partygoers died from drug use during electronic dance music festival ‘Trip to the moon’ inside the park ( AFP)

Thousands attended the event which sprawled across three stages at a water park and included EDM big hitters Yellow Claw and Headhunterz on the line-up, according to the online flyer.

One festivalgoer said she saw several people collapse in the crowd and about four people shuttled out on stretchers.

“I thought maybe they were just exhausted but when I saw more people (being carried out) I was shocked… there were so many ambulances outside I was freaking out,” she told AFP, declining to be named.

Another who attended the festival said she saw many people she suspected to be high standing around dazed for most of the night.

“They didn´t dance much, just swayed a bit and they didn´t like the lights shining directly at them,” she told AFP, adding that security did not spend much time checking people at the entrance.

Organizers did not respond to AFP´s calls on Monday.

– Synthetics on the rise –

Investigators are trying to confirm who brought the drugs into the venue and said all events of its kind would be banned in the capital pending the probe.

“The incident yesterday… was very painful. It was a great loss,” said Tran Xuan Ha, deputy head of the Hanoi government´s propaganda department.

Tickets cost between $21 and $135 in a country which has joined Asia´s multi-million-dollar fixation on EDM.

Most ravers are found in the cosmopolitan and more free-wheeling southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

But the EDM party scene has gained popularity in the capital as has drug use among young people, in a city where most bars and clubs are supposed to close at midnight in line with the official curfew.

It was the third Vietnam Electronic Weekend festival held in the country and was slated to be the biggest yet, according to state media.

There are some 220,000 registered drug users in Vietnam, according to official figures.

In the past most users were hooked on opium and heroin, though strong synthetics such as methamphetamine and ecstasy are becoming increasingly popular.

Use of synthetic drugs rose seven percent between 2001 and 2016.

The synthetic substances largely come into Vietnam from the notorious “Golden Triangle” drug producing zone — comprised of lawless parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand — though some high-profile busts in recent years in Vietnam have uncovered domestic labs.

Police raid downtown Saigon restaurant for drugs, 'sexy' services

Ashley Dougn — Mon, 14 May 2018 11:57:38 +0000

Police barricade part of Ton That Tung Street in Saigon early on Sunday as a team raid a restaurant. Photo by VnExpress/Quoc Thang

These services are available at many bars and restaurants in the city’s tourist district.

Saigon police launched a dawn raid on a downtown restaurant on Sunday and arrested dozens of suspected drug users, including more than 50 waitresses.

Around 100 police officers blocked off Ton That Tung Street in District 1 from both ends before busting into the Dmax Restaurant, one of the most popular night hangouts in the downtown area.

The alarm system did not go off and dozens of waitresses in skimpy clothing were caught red-handed “playing” with drunk customers on sofas, police said.

All restaurant employees were taken away for drug tests.

The restaurant was fined for operating an unlicensed karaoke business, late opening and offering “sexy” services.

The raid was part of an operation to tighten “sensitive” business services, which can be found at many restaurant and bars in the tourist district.

Vietnam is considering lifting its late night curfew to 2 a.m. Most bars and nightclubs in Saigon, the country’s largest city, are now only allowed to serve until midnight.

Figures from Vietnam’s social affairs ministry show that Saigon has nearly 22,000 registered drug addicts, the highest number in the country and nearly 10 percent of the country’s total.

Drug use is banned in Vietnam, and producing and dealing in drugs are criminal offenses.

By Quoc Thang, Source: Vnexpress