The seized narcotics included at least 76 kg of methamphetamine and over 17,000 ecstasy pills, Vietnamese police said. The stash was found in a house in HCMC's Binh Thanh District, hidden in tea bags under a bed.

Police said the drugs belonged to a Cambodia-based trafficking ring. Further details on the nine arrests have yet to be revealed.

An investigation is ongoing.

HCMC's vibrant economy and well-connected traffic infrastructure has made it a favored trafficking hub for drugs from the Golden Triangle - an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, which is the second largest drugs producing region after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.

Drugs have been brought from the Golden Triangle to Laos, into Vietnam and then HCMC, before being transported to Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and even Europe, Australia and Latin America. On July 19, police in the city for the first time busted an operation that trafficked drugs to South Korea.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or over 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face death.