Vietnam becomes hub of Lao drug cartels
VOV.VN - Customs and border protection officers have intercepted about 420kg of methamphetamine with an estimated street value in the tens of millions of dollars during the first six months of the year.
“The size and value of the seizures are significant in their own right,” said Colonel Nguyen Dich Nam.
Colonel Nam, who heads up the Drug Crime Investigation Department known as C47, emphasized the fact that the drugs were arriving from Laos, is a sign of how the Southeast Asian nation, nestled between Laos and China is becoming a major trafficking hub.
So far this year security forces have handled 10,000 investigations and made 16,000 arrests – a jump of over 33%– compared to the first six months of last year, the Colonel told Zing online newspaper.
In addition, law enforcement has seized roughly 150,000 tablets of methamphetamine along with 75 weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Over the past few years we have seen a steady rise in the transport of drugs through the Bo Y Border Gate in Kon Tum Province as cartel members attempt to illegally cross through Vietnam using it as a major transhipment point on their way to China.