A Lao man was detained in Vietnam’s central Quang Tri province for transporting 10 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 20,000 pills of synthetic drugs on Monday.
Police and border guard force of Vietnam’s central Quang Tri province coordinated with authorities in Laos’ Savannakhet province to catch the 29-year-old man red-handed with the drugs in Vietnam’s Lao Bao town.
The smuggler admitted that the drug had been bought in Laos and transported at night to avoid authority patrols. He intended to connect with others in Vietnam to sell the drugs but was caught in the border province of Quang Tri, Vietnam News Agency reported on Monday.
Border guards in Quang Tri Province in central Vietnam seize 10 kg of meth and 20,000 pills of synthetic drugs hidden in bamboo baskets. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Tien.
Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar and the world’s second largest drug producing area behind the Golden Crescent in South Asia.
On May 23, Vietnamese border guards and Lao police caught three Lao nationals planning to smuggle 100,000 ecstasy pills from Laos to Vietnam. VNExpress reports.
Drug trafficking and consumption have persisted and worsened in Vietnam over the last few years though the country has some of the world’s toughest laws, including death sentences for producing and smuggling the banned substances.
According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.
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