NEW YORK: Police have commenced legal proceedings against a Salvadoran man who was arrested last month for illegally carrying 41.6kg of cocaine worth over US$4.5 million into Vietnam.
The investigation agency of the Ministry of Public Security confirmed the arrest of 56-year-old Mata Bernal Carlos Rene and said the man has been charged with “illegally transporting narcotics” under Article 194 of the Vietnamese Penal Code.
The foreign man is behind bars under a four-month detention warrant endorsed by the Supreme People’s Procuracy on May 31, investigators said.
Rene was arrested on May 20 at a hotel in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City after police discovered that he was involved in the trafficking of 31.6kg of cocaine via the city-based Cat Lai port.
The drugs were stashed inside a container consignment of wood flooring products shipped from Paraguay to the branch of a Hanoi-based company in the southern city’s Tan Binh District, police officers said.
This container was shipped out of Paraguay on May 30 and passed through many seaports, including Singapore, before arriving in Vietnam, according to the Ho Chi Minh City customs force.
Investigations later found out that Rene had previously trafficked 10kg of cocaine through Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.
The drugs were hidden inside an agricultural machinery shipment delivered from Argentina.
As such, Rene has illegally brought into Vietnam a total of 41.6kg of cocaine, which is valued at more than VND100 billion ($4.58 million), according to investigators.
From the further information obtained through the case, the anti-drug force of the Ministry of Public Security gave a tip-off to Hong Kong police to arrest two more drug traffickers there.
