HCM City Customs arrest drug export gang ringleader

Drugs seized by HCM City Customs Department in June 2022

Catch the ringleaders

Mr. Huynh Nam, Head of the Anti-Drug Enforcement Team - HCM City Customs Department, said that recently, HCM City Customs Department discovered and chaired the inspection and seized more than 7.6kg of heroin which was ready to be exported to Australia via Tan Son Nhat international airport. The unit coordinated with HCM City Police to track down and arrest one person who is the instigator of the above drugs. Currently, this case is being investigated and clarified by the HCM City Customs Department in coordination with the police agency.

HCM City Customs Department also coordinated with competent forces to arrest one person who imported more than 1.5kg of ecstasy (MDMA) from Europe to HCM City while transporting goods within the Customs management area. At the same time, through the inspection of abandoned shipments at the HCM Express Customs Branch, HCM City Customs Department detected and seized more than 30.6 kg of drugs of all kinds (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy) imported from European countries, America and Africa to HCM City for export to Japan. In June – an action month of drug prevention and control in 2022, HCM City Customs Department chaired the inspection and seized more than 38kg of drugs of all kinds.

According to the leader of HCM City Customs Department, through control, the unit detected MDMA (ecstasy) - a synthetic drug imported from European countries via international express delivery and postal services, and cannabis imported from the US and Canada by air. The activities are still ongoing and exporting drugs illegally to Australia were on the rise. Accordingly, in order to avoid the key control of Customs, the subjects used tricks of exporting goods to concealed drugs and transit goods to other countries before arriving in Australia.

The lines and organizations that illegally transport narcotics mostly operate with specific characteristics such as operating in large scale, inter-province or transnational operations. Along with a tight organization with specific assignments between the subjects, the ringleaders are rarely made direct transactions. Most of the subjects thoroughly took advantage of social networks (Zalo, Facebook, Telegram) to commit crimes, causing many difficulties for the detection, investigation and handling of the competent forces.

Through monitoring and coordination with the police agency to expand the investigation of the recent case, the forces have discovered and arrested two ringleaders in the case of illegal transport of drugs. HCM City Customs Department will clarify and handle other subjects who are involved in the drug trafficking line.

New drug discovery

Commenting on the situation of drug crimes in the management area, Mr. Huynh Nam said that since the beginning of 2022 , the drug situation in the management area of HCM City Customs Department was still complicated, with many unpredictable risk. Accordingly, the key routes and activity levels of drug-related criminal lines and organizations were more sophisticated and dangerous.

The source of drugs is mainly from the "Golden Triangle" through Cambodia, Laos, smuggled through border provinces and then brought to HCM City for consumption. Drugs are hidden in warehouses in suburban districts, disguised in various types of goods, and used by companies which is established or entrusted by the subjects through logistics services in order to export to Taiwan, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Australia, and the UAE.

HCM City Customs Department discovered a new drug, a powdered MTTH compound mixed between Methamphetamine, MDMA, Nimetazepam. It is packed into grape juice (Crispy Fruit), weighing 7g/pack, hidden inside of lotion bottles to export.

To control and prevent drugs effectively, from the beginning of 2022, HCM City Customs Department has implemented many measures to fight against drugs in the situation of post-pandemic. Accordingly, the Department has established special projects and will fight drug-related crimes in the area.

At the same time, HCM City Customs Department has been proactive in collecting information from many sources, constantly updating new situations on methods, tricks, routes and items, and coordinating with other competent forces to detect and arrest many cases of illegal transportation of narcotics.

The HCM City Customs Department will continue to implement the established plans and projects to control illegal drug trafficking and transportation. For example, strict control in clearance for exported and imported goods, luggage and means of transport on entry and exit; not allowing subjects to take advantage of the green channel to carry out illegal transportation of narcotics; strengthening the control of drugs and precursors during and after clearance, raising the sense of responsibility of customs officers in the fight against drugs.

Furthermore, actively and proactively collecting and exchange information with anti-drug enforcement forces of the Police, Border Guard and relevant agencies in the area base on the signed coordination regulations in the direction of strengthening coordination to establish the project on drugs in order to early detection, arrest and promptly handle drug-related cases in the management area.