They said the 29-year-old woman was the kingpin of a drug trafficking operation between Vietnam and South Korea.

Loan moved to South Korea after getting married to a Korean man. She worked with other Vietnamese people in South Korea to set up an operation smuggling drugs from the northern port city of Hai Phong, as well as the north central provinces Ha Tinh and Nghe An, to South Korea by air.

They hid the items in stuffed animals, toys and souvenirs that Lan herself took to South Korea when returning from her frequent visits to Vietnam. She also asked unsuspecting people on Facebook to do it for her.

Last Saturday night, authorities found more than 140 grams of MDMA and 18 grams of ketamine pills hidden inside a teddy bear carried by a Vietnmese woman named Cu Thi Nguyet at the Cat Bi – Hai Phong airport.

Nguyet said Loan had contacted her via Facebook and asked her to bring several items, including the teddy bear, to South Korea for her. She said she did not know that the bear had drugs inside.

Loan was arrested four days after.