Border guards at the Cau Treo International Border Gate check imported goods in the central province of Ha Tinh. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Despite positive steps in anti-drug efforts, drug smuggling hascontinued seemingly unabated, especially in border areas.
Anti-drug police and border guards in the Vietnam-Laos borderareas said in the past, they used to seize only a few hundred drug pills orgrams of heroin in each case. But recently, the police said they had detectedand seized large volumes of drugs brought through Laos and transported to thirdcountries, including Vietnam.
The Vietnam-Laos border is becoming a hot spot and the main routeto transport drugs.
From the beginning of the year, more than 20 cases of drugtransportation, storage or trade on this border were handled by anti-drugforces, Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper reported on April 18.
The latest case of drug trafficking was detected last week. Borderguards in Tay Trang International Border Gate along with border guards innorthern mountain province of Dien Bien arrested a 33-year-old while he wascarrying 500g of heroin and 200 synthetic drug pills.
Last week, anti-drug police and customs officers in the northernprovince of Bac Ninh also arrested a man carrying nine bricks of heroinweighing about 3.42kg.
At the police station, Kha A Cha, 43, the arrested man, said hereceived the drugs from an unknown man in northern Hoa Binh province totransport to Quang Ninh province for sale.
He could get 5 million VND (220 USD) for transporting each brickof heroin, he told the police.
On April 4, border guards in the central province of Ha Tinhworking with Laos police arrested three Lao citizens transporting 97 bricks ofheroin.
When questioned, they confessed that they worked in the drug tradefor over ten years. They mainly bought heroin in the ‘golden triangle’ ofMyanmar, Laos and Thailand and then transported it to Vientiane for sale.
Each time, they carried at least 97 bricks of heroin, sometimes upto 300 bricks, they said.
Border guards at Vietnam-Laos route said dozens of bricks ofheroin were transported from the border through northern mountain province ofSon La’s Moc Chau district each day.
Police said drugs bought in the ‘golden triangle’ would be storedin Laos’s Houaphanh province and then transported to Vietnam through towns in MocChau district and Hoa Binh province’s Mai Chau district.
According to the Customs Department in the central Ha Tinh province,the drugs transported from Laos to Vietnam are mainly heroin and syntheticdrugs in large quantities.
The subjects involved in drug trafficking are mostly Lao and theyassociate with some local people living near the border. They often carryweapons to fight police.
The anti-drug forces’ efforts have increased and seizures haveincreased, but the supply available for import has also increased.
The problem for enforcement officials is not only stoppingsmuggling but working with the countries where the drugs come from.
No one knows for sure how many Vietnamese use illegal drugs or areinvolved in their sale, but indications are that drug use is increasing, borderguards say.-VNA
VNA
