Police in northern Vietnam have arrested a man in possession of 23,686 synthetic narcotic pills weighing approximately eight kilograms.

The drugs were on their way from Ho Chi Minh City to the northern province of Hai Phong when the trafficker was busted in Hai Duong Province.

The number of pills is the largest-ever single seizure by Hai Duong police officers, according to Colonel Cu Ngoc Nam, chief of its criminal division.

Le Vo Thuy Vy, 25, was captured at around 5:50 am on Monday in Hai Duong’s Tu Ky District while he was sitting in a taxi.

The drugs were concealed inside a handbag in the vehicle’s trunk.

At the police station, Vy initially provided investigators with the fake ID of a 19-year-old man named Nguyen Dang Phat, but later admitted to being transgender.

Born into a female body but identifying as male, Vy had previously traveled to Thailand to undergo a sex reassignment surgery, police discovered.

In need of money for his next operation, Vy agreed to transport the narcotics for VND10 million (US$441) at the request of social media acquaintances.

The possession, transportation, and selling of all types of narcotics are outlawed in Vietnam, with criminals likely to face the death penalty in serious cases.

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