One was killed in a gun battle between police officers and a group of drug traffickers in a forest in Moc Chau District in the northern Vietnamese province of Son La on Saturday, according to the local police department.

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The hunt for the group of armed men illegally transporting drugs in large quantities in the forest turned into a fierce gunfight with one drug trafficker killed, police said on Sunday.

On 8:30 pm on Saturday, a police task force coordinated with functional units to conduct patrols to ensure security and order in Moc Chau.

While on duty, the force discovered a group of about 10 armed suspects illegally transporting drugs from the Chinese border into the area.

The assemblage, armed with AK rifles and other weapons including handguns, carried backpacks containing drugs along a trail through the forest with dogs.

The task force decided to set an ambush on the drug traffickers.

But upon detecting police, the drug traffickers released their dogs and fired continuously at the officers.

Police officers had to return fire after being attacked, killing one of the drug traffickers and forcing the others to flee toward the border.

At the scene, the task force seized one AK rifle, one K59 pistol, and 32 rounds of ammunition left by the gunmen.

In addition, authorities confiscated two backpacks containing 40 bricks of heroin. A heroin brick usually weighs around 350 grams.

Vietnamese authorities are working to hunt down the nine remaining people.

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