Packs of heroin and synthetic drugs are seized during a police
crackdown in HCMC, January 2021. Photo courtesy of HCMC Police. 

Ho Chi Minh City police and Ministry of Public Security officers have arrested seven suspected members of three drug trafficking rings, seizing a total 217 kilograms of narcotics. 

The amount of drugs included 34.3 kilograms of heroin, 142 kilograms of MDMA, five kilograms of ketamine and over 100,000 ecstasy pills.

The arrests came following a massive crackdown on three different rings in several districts of HCMC from late January until early February, police told the press Monday.

The drugs were smuggled from Cambodia. Police are expanding their investigation.

At the end of last month, police caught a group of drug traffickers in District 12 illegally transporting 4.6 kilograms of heroin. Searching a nearby warehouse, officers found a large amount of additional narcotics hidden in bags of old clothes.

Simultaneously, police also busted two other rings, raiding dozens of locations in Districts 5, 10, Binh Thanh and Tan Binh.

HCMC has been a transit hub for drugs trafficked from the Golden Triangle, police have reported. From here, the hauls are typically taken to Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea and even Europe, Australia and Latin America.

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.