Police in southern Tien Giang Province are investigating a case in which two Chinese men smuggled weight-gain stimulant, which can show effects after 2-3 days, into Vietnam for use on pineapples. From a tip-off from the public, police caught Zhang Wenbin and Gao Rong spraying an unknown kind of chemicals on pineapple trees about to be harvested on a field in Hung Thanh Commune, Tan Phuoc District on Tuesday. After investigation, police confirmed that the Chinese nationals arrived in Vietnam on business visa and smuggled the plant growth stimulants into the country. The men had bought fruits from Vietnam and organized transport of the fruits to China although they have not registered for their business nor set up any companies or representative offices in Vietnam. The two men told investigators they had a Vietnamese man buy pineapples from a farmer named Hoang in the commune on condition that he would only buy those trees that have been treated with the plant growth stimulant they brought in from China. The two sides agreed to the deal and on April 16, Zhang carried 10 cartons of the stimulant chemicals from a hotel to a pineapple field owned by Hoang. Police appeared in time to prevent Zhang from spraying the substance on pineapples trees. The Chinese men admitted they had bought the stimulant in China and hired another Chinese man to transport it by road though the Vietnam-China border to Hanoi. The substance was then transported by bus to the Western Coach Station in Ho Chi Minh City, where Zhang received and brought it to Tien Giang. Zhang told investigators that the drug can make pineapples grow bigger, heavier and more eye-catching than normal only after 2-3 days of use. The chemicals can shorten the normal growth duration of pineapples, leading to an early harvest, Zhang said. Police said they have seized the entire unknown stimulant and sent it for testing to identify what it is and what impacts it may have on plants and the environment. The acts of smuggling stimulants into Vietnam by the two Chinese men will be punished, police said.
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