Drug ring busted in Ho Chi Minh City
Police in Ho Chi Minh City and the central Highlands province of Lam Dong have jointly smashed a drug ring, arresting eight people and confiscating 10 kg of crystal meth and two bars of heroin (700 g).
Other items sized included three guns, 15 bullets, two cars, nearly VND2.5 billion (US$112,025) and more than US$52,000.
Ringleaders were identified as Nguyen Duy Hung, born in 1970, and Nguyen Tien Khanh, born in 1981.
In 2003, Hung was sentenced to seven years in prison for illegal possession of drugs. After being released, he opened a garage in the northern province of Thai Nguyen as a cover for drug deals.
In early 2016, Ho Chi Minh City police caught two men red-handed carrying 2 kg of crystal meth hidden inside a fruit box. Their testimonies led the officers to Nguyen Duy Hung.
On May 18, Hung, Khanh and their accomplices were arrested after a meeting near the Long Thanh - Dau Giay highway.
Hung admitted buying the drugs from a Chinese national at the Tan Thanh border gate in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son at VND200 million (US$8,962) per kg. He then used his private car to transport the goods to Ho Chi Minh and sold to Khanh for VND350 million (US$15,683) per kg.