Director General of Vietnam Customs talked about the 276kg meth seizure coordination in Philippines

Relating to the successful destruction of transnational drug lines, seizing hundreds of kilograms of meth are of great public concern…… the Director General of Vietnam Customs shared with the Customs News.

Director General Nguyen Van Can said that: Implementing Specialized Project 218 LP, chaired by Drug Criminal Investigation Police Department - C03 (Ministry of Public Security), following the Project Board’s assignment, the General Department of Vietnam Customs appointed a specialized force in drug prevention to participate, which were the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department and the related local customs departments.

At the time of solving this case, the customs force together with the forces in the Project Board (police and border defense force) conducted the investigation, verification, search, and successfully solved the case. They seized 300 kg of meth (at Ho Chi Minh City), and other key stakeholders, simultaneously and quickly reviewed and identified 276 kg of meth that had gone out of Vietnam. Thus, through reaching agreement in the Project Board, they decided to provide information to assist the Filipino authorities for successful arrest.

"As a result, the Philippine competent forces seized the exact amount previously investigated and verified by the Project Board (of Vietnam). This was a great success, demonstrating the coordination and synergies between forces of Police, Customs, and Border Guard, "- General Director Nguyen Van Can said.

Regarding the above case, the Director of the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Vietnam Customs) Nguyen Phi Hung added, immediately after the arrest (of 300 kg of meth in HCM City-PV), through fast exploitation, customs forces and leaders, scouts of C03 focused on analyzing, evaluating and comparing information obtained through arrest, searching and declarations by the subjects along with the professional information provided in the Import and Export Management Information System of the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

276 kg of meth seized by Filipino competent forces thanks to the information provided by Vietnam Customs

After that, the competent forces detected 1 shipment transported from Saigon port area 1 (HCM City) exported to Philippines with signs of drug concealment.

"That time was 11PM of 20/3/2019" - Mr. Nguyen Phi Hung shared.

According to Mr. Nguyen Phi Hung, with a strong and proactive spirit, Vietnam Public Security and Customs authorities agreed the necessity for exchanging information quickly with the Philippines competent forces through the focal point of collaborative work, which had been assigned in order to catch up in time. Thus, improving the effectiveness of the project, as well as implementing the commitments between Vietnam and the countries within the framework of international cooperation programs on fighting, removing and destroying transnational criminal drug lines.

As reported, on 20/3, the Drug Criminal Investigation Police Department chaired and coordinated with other professional units of the Ministry of Public Security, Squad Police Battalion No. 2, and Police of Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City Police, Drug criminal Police of Dak Nong, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong provinces, Unit 6 - Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Vietnam Customs) and Group 3 - Department of Drug and Crime Prevention, and Command of Border Defense force, to successfully close the specialized project 218LP - The illegal drug trafficking, transporting line from Laos to Ho Chi Minh City, led by Taiwanese (Chinese) and Laotian subjects in collusion with Vietnamese subjects.

The competent forces arrested 11 subjects, in that 8 people were Chinese, 3 people were Vietnamese, and simultaneously examined 5 suspicious points of drug concealment in Ho Chi Minh City, and 2 points in Dak Nong, the competent force seized 300kg of drugs.

Then, on 22/3, the Philippine competent force seized a shipment of 276 kg of meth in plastic bags exported from Vietnam.

The successful seizure of the above meth by the Philippine police officers was highly appreciated by competent authorities, the public, and the Filipino press, thanks to the initial information and timely coordinated activities from the Vietnamese Police and Customs authorities.