This followed an investigation by C17 Drug Police from the Pubic Security Ministry and Quang Ninh Provincial Police.

Five people carrying foreign passports were later arrested and charged with trafficking drugs.

When police searched 400 containers of clothes being re-exported at the Mong Cai border, they found 8.8 tonnes of cannabis resin hidden in two of them.

The resin was packed in 400 cardboard boxes wrapped in bags labeled “orange powder” and covered by clothes, said C17 director Colonel Nguyen Anh Tuan.

The resin, worth about US$90 million, was being shipped from Chua Ve Port in northern Hai Phong city to its neighbour, Quang Ninh, Tuan said.

Public Security Deputy Minister Le The Tiem on May 14 sent his congratulations to police who busted the ring, saying the confiscated haul was the largest ever found being transported by sea.

The deputy minister is leading a committee to investigate the case to ensure the enforcement of Vietnamese and international laws.