An elderly Australian woman has been detained in Vietnam for trafficking narcotics after she lost a gambling game.
Custom officers and security guards at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City caught a 76-year-old woman who holds Australian nationality on May 26 for attempting to traffic illegal drugs from Vietnam to Australia.
Officers discovered and confiscated nine plastic bags of heroine, about three kilograms in total, stashed in five jars of fermented fish in her luggage for investigation.
The woman confessed that she was forced to transfer the drugs, worth US$720,000, to Australia as she lost a wager to an Australia-based gambling ring, according to investigators.
Further investigation is ongoing with the aid of police forces, customs officers at the airport said.