Major transnational drug trafficking ring busted in Hanoi

The police said that they had been keeping a close watch on a drug trafficking ring based in Laos that was transporting illegal substances to Dien Bien and then on to Hanoi, the northern provinces of Bac Ninh, and Bac Giang for a long time.

The investigation subsequently identified Quang Van Thanh and Bac Cam Anh, who were hiding in Laos, as the ringleaders of the trafficking operation.

Accordingly, on March 7 authorities caught Vi Van Luong, 18, residing in the mountainous province of Dien Bien, and Hoang Van Tin, 26, from Hanoi, red-handed as they were trading 34kg drugs at Nuoc Ngam Bus Station.

Searches of the suspects' home and warehouse led to the seizure of additional 26kg of drugs. The police then continued to arrest five accomplices following their tipoff, seizing a further 1.5kg of drugs along with other pertinent evidence.

Expanding the case, the police co-operated with Lao authorities to catch more five suspects, including the mastermind of the ring Quach Van Thanh. Following a further investigation, on May 27 four other drug traffickers involved in the ring were arrested with 20kg of drugs.

During the arrest, a container truck driver ran away and threw six cakes of heroin drugs onto the road with the aim of destroying any evidence.

Once at the police station, the group confessed to transporting and trading drugs from Laos to Vietnam by various methods, with each transaction involving 30kg to 50kg of drugs. Further investigations into the case are now underway.