HANOI: Vietnamese police have cracked down on the largest drug trafficking ring in the Mekong Delta region, arresting three people.Colonel Phan Minh Tan, deputy director of the police department of the southern city of Can Tho, said that local police officers had detained Tran Thi Thu Thao, a local woman; Do Van Chi, a 51-year-old man; and Bui Thi Hue, a 55-year-old woman both from Hanoi.
Police initially seized nearly 700 grams of heroin from the group, who belongs to an inter-provincial drug smuggling ring, Colonel Tan said.According to the case file, police caught Chi delivering two bricks of heroin to Thao outside her house in a small alley on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, said Colonel Nguyen Dinh Huong, deputy head of the Drug Crime Investigation Police Office under the provincial Police Department.
Police then confiscated the heroin from Chi and VND250 million (US$11,750) in cash from Thao.On searching the house, police officers seized many stun guns, scimitars, and dozens of cellphones.Chi told police he had bought the heroin from Hue in Hanoi for VND150 million ($7,050) per brick and carried the drugs by train to Can Tho to sell for VND200 million ($9,400) per brick.He told police that he had sold heroin to Thao many times.
Police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the case.This is the largest drug trafficking ring that has ever been uncovered in Can Tho, Colonel Huong said, adding that the highest volume of drugs in previous cases was only 60 grams.A source from the Ministry of Public Security’s Drug Crime Investigation Police Department said this seizure of drugs was also the biggest in the Mekong Delta so far.
