The Border Guard Command of central Quang Tri province said on June 21 that they have arrested a foreign man when he was en route to illegally transport 38,000 pills of synthetic drugs into Vietnam.
According to Vietnam News Agency, Xeng Pheng Say, 38 years old, residing in Sop village, Sepangphay district, Khammouane province of Laos, was captured at 10:15am on June 21 on Road 16A.
He confessed he bought drugs in Laos and then illegally crossed the border into Vietnam to sell them. The case is still under further investigation, Vietnam News Agency reported.
With meth becoming a substance favored by hard-partying youth, drug busts and convictions have been increasing in Vietnam though the country has very tough drug laws.
Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.
The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.
Last August, Cher Wei Hon was sentenced to death at Tay Ninh People’s Court on Friday for smuggling 10 kg of methamphetamine from Cambodia.
The court found 40-year-old Cher, residing in District 5 of Ho Chi Minh City, guilty of “illegal transportation of banned substances.”
According to the indictment, at 3:15 a.m. on June 29, 2019, the Southern Drug Prevention Special Force, cooperating with the Border Guard Station at Moc Bai in Tay Ninh Province that borders HCMC, stopped and searched a car driven by Duong Hung Tam, 27. Cher was in the car.
Cher subsequently identified the large amount of white crystals inside the vehicle as meth.
According to the police, the total volume of meth seized reached 9.95 kg.
Cher said he had met a woman named Quynh at a karaoke parlor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After borrowing VND200 million ($8,600) from her, he worked for her to pay off the debt, VNExpress reported.