An anti-drug unit of the Vietnam Coast Guard arrested three Vietnamese people inclduing a woman for illegally trading 13 kilograms of synthetic drugs in the northern port city of Hai Phong last weekend.

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After a long time of investigation, the unit detained Le Thi Thuc, a 40-year-old woman, and two men Dao Truong Tho, 35, and Nguyen Ngoc Hung, 38, when they were trading a large amount of drugs in Hong Bang District on Saturday afternoon.

The arrest was made with the help of local police and anti-drug police from the Ministry of Public Security.

Of these detainees – all are Hai Phong residents, Hung had been wanted on charges of “illegally stockpiling, transporting, trading in or appropriating narcotics” pursuant to Article 194 of the Vietnam's Penal Code. The joint force seized from the three people five kilograms of methamphetamine – a kind of synthetic drug –  about 20,000 ecstasy tablets weighing eight kilograms, VND20 million ($944) in cash, eight mobile phones, and other items.

These people are members of a ring that transported drugs from Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces, also in the northern region, to Hai Phong for sale.

The coast guard unit has handed over the detainees and the drugs to Hai Phong police, who are expanding the case to track down other involved individuals.

On behalf of the Vietnam Coast Guard, Major General Nguyen Van Tuong, political commissar of the Vietnam Coast Guard’s High Command, on Monday praised the joint force for uncovering the trafficking case, and offered them rewards of VND70 million (US$3,300), in including VND20 million to the Hai Phong police.

Under the Penal Code, those who are indicted for producing or selling 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics are given the death sentence.

Capital punishment is also applied to those who are convicted of smuggling more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine.

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