Two Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper contributors have tracked down rings trading in shisha, also known as Arab pipe tobacco, which an increasing number of local youngsters have been hooked on in recent years.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

Over the past few years, “shisha” has become a can’t-miss at tea, coffee shops, bars, karaoke parlors and even sidewalk beverage and smoothie stalls which are typically frequented by young people in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other large cities.

Shisha is an Oriental tobacco pipe with a long, flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled as it passes through water.

Groups of youngsters, including sixth graders, are typically seen lounging in the rooms, which are often decorated in an Arab style, and pampering themselves over hookahs of tempting shisha with different flavors.

There are currently no regulations in Vietnam banning the advertising and sale of shisha, and the addictive substance is considered illegal only when it is illicitly imported.

Infiltrating the rings

The Tuoi Tre contributors recently “stalked” on and penetrated two rings in HCMC which supply the substance in bulk.

Disguised as buyers, they ventured into a house on Ngo Quyen Street in District 9, where they were shown different kinds of shisha and smoking kits by Hai, 28.

Hai said a kilogram of Al Fakher shisha fetches VND1.1 million (US$50.4), including transport fees.

The prices will be down to VND840,000 ($39) or less per kilogram for bulk orders and regular clients.

Hai claimed his goods are purchased from China and brought into Vietnam as personal belongings.

He added substances from the U.S. and Dubai in the UAE are generally kept in plastic containers of 250 grams and 500 grams and fetch prices two to three times as high as those from China.

These “luxury” substances are imported with clear origins and taxed.

Hai shows his homemade shisha hookah. Photo: Tuoi Tre.

The man stressed dealers generally prefer Chinese stuff for the substantial profits they yield.

The Chinese-made Al Fakher shisha which Hai and many other dealers in HCMC currently offer for sale are smuggled into the southern metropolis and Hanoi.    Due to stringent checks at the Lang Son Border Gate to Hanoi in recent times, large loads of the substance are transported to Cambodia before being brought into HCMC.

Despite the detour, prices remain almost the same as when they are transported directly from China to Vietnam.

A number of dealers sometimes even refuse to sell their substance until the right time, when they raise their prices by two or three times.

Hai divulged he currently wholesales shisha to around 20 “outlets” in HCMC and several provinces in the Mekong Delta, which will then distribute the substance to cafes, bars, discos and karaoke parlors.

He is willing to lend hookahs (water pipe for smoking), other kits and attendants to newly opened shisha shops.

Hai sells both China-made and homemade shisha smoking kits.

The Tuoi Tre contributors were also introduced by a shisha addict to Phu, an attendant at a shisha shop cum a wholesale broker.

He claimed his acquaintance in Dubai usually carries over 100 kilograms’ worth of “quality” shisha to the northern city of Hai Phong before sending the loads to HCMC.

The Tuoi Tre contributors’ investigation revealed a number of local companies even advertise their legally imported shisha.

The contributors were later escorted by a dealer to a contraband shisha warehouse on Nguyen Khuyen Street in Binh Thanh District.

Nguyet, the warehouse overseer and transaction maker, divulged she takes in over 100 kilograms of shisha of various kinds each week.

She offers her Al Fakher stuff for VND900,000 ($41) per kilogram for orders of 10 kilograms, and VND800,000 ($37) for orders of 50 kilograms or more.

Nguyet bragged her abundant shisha stockpile is of premium quality and great diversity with over 40 aromas, and fetches best prices.

Nguyet, another dealer, shows off boxes of shisha kept at her warehouse. Photo: Tuoi Tre.

Dealers like Nguyet pocket some US dollars for each wholesaled kilogram, while outlet owners earn over VND100,000 ($5) each kilogram.

Nguyet earns more for each kilogram in retail.

Long, Nguyet’s son, claimed their shisha is “airborne goods” and is wholesaled to outlets across the city.

Duy, another dealer who supplies his contrabands to local bars and discos, saw the Tuoi Tre contributors at his friend’s shisha shop on Nguyen Trai Street in District 5, where many young people were getting high on the Arab pipe tobacco in air-conditioned rooms.

“Shisha dealing makes easy profits, as youngsters almost anywhere throughout the country smoke it,” he added.

A policeman is seen applying seals onto smuggled shisha and smoking kits. Photo: Tuoi Tre.