Police in Ho Chi Minh City have smashed a ring smuggling illicit drugs from Cambodia, arresting several traffickers and seizing almost 95 kilograms of narcotics.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security said on Thursday that the investigation police agency had filed charges against Truong Ngoc Mai, a native of the city’s District 1, Chu Ba Chung, alias Long, a Canadian who resides in Khanh Hoa Province, Do Thi Minh Tam, a resident of District 3, Tran Kim Loan, who lives in District 5 and Mai Thi Ngan, a native of Bac Lieu Province, for allegedly trading illegal drugs.

Besides, Nguyen Vu Khai Hoang, a native of Binh Dinh Province, was prosecuted for alleged transportation of narcotics, while the police launched criminal proceedings against Diep Hoang Linh, Nguyen Trung Quoc and Nguyen Tan Thanh, who reside in Bac Lieu Province, Long An Province and District 1, respectively, for allegedly storing illicit drugs.

In September 2022, police officers discovered Mai, a 26-year-old woman, showing some suspicious signs of illegally trading drugs on Do Ngoc Thanh Street in District 5, thereby stopping her for checks.

The police found her carrying three boxes that contained nearly 12 kilograms of methamphetamine on her motorcycle.

After searching Mai’s residence, the police officers confiscated more than 11.5 kilograms of heroin, over 19 kilograms of methamphetamine, 78.54 grams of ketamine and one kilogram of ecstasy.

More than 19.3 kilograms of methamphetamine, some 11 kilograms of ketamine and over 844 grams of ecstasy were found at another residence of hers.

The total volume of illicit drugs stored by Mai was nearly 84 kilograms.

A huge volume of narcotics was confiscated by the police in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Supplied by police

In a related case, police in District 3 and Tan Binh District raided a house on Tran Van Dang Street in District 3, catching Loan and Tam red-handed hiding narcotics.

The police seized a plastic bag of 996.6 grams of methamphetamine at the residence.

Tam and Loan confessed that Loan had Tam keep the drugs.

A box of 16.5 grams of methamphetamine was detected at Loan’s house.

In addition, the police searched an apartment in an apartment building on Thanh Loan Street in District 8, discovering Ngan storing 405.9 grams of ecstasy and 981.9 grams of ketamine.

The police raided another apartment in the building, seizing over 2.1 grams of ecstasy kept by Quoc and Linh.

Thanh was arrested for keeping 0.9 grams of ecstasy after a sting operation was launched in District 1 in mid-September 2022.

During the expanded probe into the drug trafficking gang, police officers detained Hoang, Chung and some relevant individuals.

In early 2019, Chung incurred losses on gambling in Cambodia, leading to a huge debt.

His lender, who remained unidentified, asked Chung to ship drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to earn VND2.3-4.6 million (US$100-200) a week.

Chung hired Mai to ship the illegal goods to customers. Since 2020, they have traded 5-30 kilograms of drugs of all kinds in one or two months. 

Mai received 30 kilograms of methamphetamine and some 12 kilograms of ecstasy on September 15, 2022, but she was arrested before shipping them to customers.

Chung was caught while he was hiding in Nha Trang City in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

Meanwhile, Hoang admitted that in March 2022, he borrowed money from an unknown man, alias Thach, but he could not pay the debt.

In September, Thach offered Hoang to ship the drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to pay his debt. Hoang was paid VND100-200 million ($4,260-8,500) for each delivery.

On September 13, 2022, Hoang received a suitcase of drugs in Ngoc Hoi District in Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands region, and then drove his car to Ho Chi Minh City.

When arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang gave 30 bags of heroin and 15 bags of ecstasy to Mai in Thu Duc City.

Hoang was arrested on the way back to Binh Dinh Province, central Vietnam after his delivery.

Mai confessed that in mid-2020, Chung contacted her to make her rent a house to store the drugs and ship the illicit goods to customers.

She was paid VND5-10 million ($213-426) a week.

Mai shipped drugs to many customers, including Loan, Tam, Quoc and Ngan.

After cracking down on such a massive transnational drug trafficking ring, the police in Ho Chi Minh City seized a total of nearly 95 kilograms of narcotics.

The police are expanding the investigation into the ring.

Police seize many bags of drugs. Photo: Supplied by police

Police in Ho Chi Minh City busted a ring trafficking drugs from Cambodia, seizing almost 95 kilometers of narcotics. Photo: Supplied by police

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