Late on Wednesday in the southern Dong Thap Province they flagged down a car in which Pham Van Huy, 23, Duong Van Hoang, 37, and Nguyen Thanh Han, 21, were coming from a nearby border gate and seized the meth from a suitcase.

Huy said a man in Cambodia hired him to transport the drugs to HCMC for VND5 million ($215).

The police are investigating further.

Vietnam has become a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the world's second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.

In Vietnam, those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or more than 2.5 kg of meth face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death