The seizure of a truck carrying over 1 ton of methamphetamine in Ho Chi Minh City has shocked the public, revealing a transnational drug trafficking ring of enormous scale. Police successfully dismantled a dangerous criminal group, seizing a record amount of drugs in the city.
The incident began with what appeared to be a routine traffic violation. On the afternoon of April 12, traffic cameras recorded three vehicles parked illegally, including two trucks parked facing each other and a seven-seater vehicle parked nearby. Sensing something was amiss, suspecting that the individuals were carrying out prohibited goods, traffic police quickly approached to investigate.
Traffic police discover and intercept a truck suspected of carrying methamphetamine near the Thu Thiem tunnel, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Upon seeing the police, the truck that had just received the goods, along with the seven-seater vehicle, immediately sped away on Vo Van Kiet Avenue, heading towards the Thu Thiem tunnel (District 1). Traffic police immediately notified relevant units and organized a chase. The breathtaking chase lasted until near the entrance of the Thu Thiem tunnel, where authorities managed to stop both vehicles.
Upon quickly inspecting the truck with the Dong Nai province license plate, police discovered several cardboard boxes containing black Temeisheng mobile speaker boxes. Suspiciously, these speaker boxes had an unusually heavy weight. The two individuals in the vehicle, Yeh Ching Wei and Chiang Wei Chih (Taiwanese nationals), could not produce valid documents related to the goods. Both were detained for investigation.
The methamphetamine, disguised ingeniously in speaker boxes, represents the largest drug bust in Ho Chi Minh City at that time.
The following morning, a large force comprising traffic police, criminal police, drug crime prevention police, and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy simultaneously searched multiple related locations. During the search, authorities discovered that the 60 cardboard boxes all contained portable speakers. Surprisingly, the insides of these speakers contained hundreds of yellow nylon bags, labeled with a Chinese tea brand, but inside contained a total of over 600 kg of methamphetamine.
Expanding the investigation, police discovered that Ngoc Van Transportation Company was hired by a company in Thailand to transport 60 speaker boxes to a hotel in Bien Hoa City (Dong Nai). In addition, five similar boxes were also transferred to the home of Bui Nguyen Huy Vu (38 years old) on Cu Lao Street, Phu Nhuan District.
Notably, Ngoc Van Company then received information from its Thai partner requesting the destruction of the remaining goods in the warehouse. Conducting an emergency search of the company’s warehouse, authorities seized an additional 38 speaker boxes containing nearly 500 kg of methamphetamine.
Thus, the total exhibits seized by the police amounted to 103 speaker boxes, containing more than 1.1 tons of methamphetamine. This is the largest truck drug bust ever in Ho Chi Minh City. With the sophisticated method of hiding drugs in speaker boxes, investigators suspect that the source of this shipment may be the same as that of the more than 1 ton of methamphetamine recently discovered in Nghe An.
Foreign suspects arrested to assist with the expanded investigation.
A series of drug trafficking cases involving extremely large quantities have been discovered in recent times, indicating that the drug crime situation is becoming increasingly complex. Two days prior, Nghe An Provincial Police also discovered 23 sacks of goods along National Highway 48B, Quynh Thuan Commune, Quynh Luu District, containing nearly 1 ton of methamphetamine. Searching a warehouse more than 10 km away, police found 50 speaker boxes believed to have once contained these sacks of methamphetamine.
In March, the Department of Drug Crime Investigation Police also dismantled a drug trafficking ring from the Golden Triangle to Vietnam and then exported to other countries, seizing 1.1 tons of methamphetamine in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Ho Chi Minh City, and arresting 7 people. The leader of this ring was identified as Wu HeShan (57 years old, Chinese national), who had lived in Vietnam for 10 years and established a shell company in Binh Tan District (Ho Chi Minh City) to carry out drug trafficking operations.
Previously, late on March 27, the An Suong Traffic Police Team (Ho Chi Minh City Police) patrolling also stopped two vehicles and discovered nearly 900 bricks of heroin. This drug was also transported by Chinese suspects to Ho Chi Minh City for export to a third country.
Ho Chi Minh City Police are currently coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security, Ha Tinh and Nghe An Provincial Police to clarify the relationship between the similar shipments recently discovered. Investigators are also verifying the roles of several individuals with Thai, Lao, and Malaysian nationalities in this transnational drug ring.
The seizure of a truck carrying over 1 ton of methamphetamine in Ho Chi Minh City is a major victory for the police force, demonstrating its determination to combat drug crime and protect social order and security. It is also a profound warning about the dangers and dire consequences of drug abuse, while highlighting the sophistication and cunning of transnational drug crime rings, requiring close coordination between functional forces and the joint efforts of the entire society in the fight against drugs.
