The Southern Division of the Drug Smuggling Prevention and Control (Team 6) under the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department - General Department of Vietnam Customs has recentlybeen separated and established for fouryears, with a small number, control areas stretching from Da Nang to Ca Mau on all roads, sea routes andair routes under the area of customs operation, but has established many achievements in the work of drug prevention and combat. These achievements are associated with the role of closely directing and judging the effectiveness of the female "captain" Vu Thi Thu Ha.

Team Leader Vu Thi Thu Ha (second from left) shares memories of her work at
the Art Exchange Programme "The Love Roses" and a typical advanced honouring
ceremony in national drug prevention and fight, took place onthe evening
of October 11 in Hanoi

Born as an officer of the Supreme People's Procuracy, trained at the Procuratorate, University of Law and Criminal Investigation major at the People's Police Academy, along with the work experience during many years working in many units, when taking the role of Team Leader in charge of drug prevention and fighting, Vu Thi Thu Ha has brought into play her forte andher ability to apply in her work with high efficiency.

The MT619 project of the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department destroyed transnational drug transport from HCM City to Taiwan with the trick of hiding extremely sophisticated drugs in a "plastic resin" container controlled by a Taiwanese subject, seized 446 heroin bricks; the MT120 project, in coordination with functional forces successfully destroyed trans-boundary drug transport lines led by Kim Soon Sik, a former South Korean police officer, seized 40 kg of methamphetaminewas hided sophisticated in grantierocks stored in containers at Cat Lai Harbour, are examples.

Confiding about drug crimes that she and her colleagues were directly involved in the judgment, Vu Thi Thu Ha said there are drug projects that have been carried out for a long time through many provinces, from border to inland, it is necessary to have close coordination of the specialiseddrug prevention forces of the Police, Customs and Border Guard. There is a project to be done on holidays so you and your teammates have to leave their own work, temporarily leave family gatherings to stick to the line, stick with the object to choose the opportunity to solve the case. The MT919 project of the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department to destroy the drug transport line hidden in the core of the pump sent through the intermodal bus from Cambodia to Vietnam through MocBai border gate, TayNinh was a typical example.

“In this project, Team 6 was assigned to coordinate solving the case right on the days of the Lunar New Year in 2020, a time when all of us have finished arranging the one-year work to reunite with our family to welcome Tet. But because of the mission, my colleagues and I in the unit left warm moments with our families to deploy synchronous professional measures to solve the case. The results of the two-year project ended on the first day of the lunar new year of the Canh Ty. We arrested threesubjects, seized 13kg of meth and1,000 synthetic narcotics," Ha recalled.

With this feat, the brothers in the unit joked this year the victory opens on the first day of the New Year will definitely be a busy year. Indeed, only in the first ninemonths of 2020, Team 6 has established and fought four major projects, seizing nearly 300 kg of drugs of all kinds, 19 heroin bricks; coordinated handling 42 drug cases, seizing more than90 kg of drugs of all kinds, 1,000 ecstasy pills, and 38,000 synthetic narcotics tablets. Directly investigating, verifying, advising and sanctioning an administrative violation of onecompany forthe act of importing unlicensed precursors, fining VND350 million and retrospectively collecting once the value of sold goods and remitted into the State budget in excess of VND 7 billion. Recently, the project of capturing 40 kg of illicit drugs hidden in the construction stone was discovered for the first time with the participation of Captain Vu Thi Thu Ha and colleagues, appreciated by leaders at all levels.