Three arrested for trafficking heroin in Thanh Hoa, believed to be gang members
By Ngoc Minh, Thanh Nien News
THANH HOA - Thursday, December 25, 2014 21:42 Email Print
Ten brick-shaped packs of heroin seized from Song A Vau, an ethnic man from Son La Province. Photo credit: Vietnam News Agency
Police in Thanh Hoa Province, central Vietnam, have seized 7 kg of heroin and arrested three suspected traffickers in two separate incidents this week.
The police believed all three suspects worked for a gang that smuggles drug from Laos to Thanh Hoa.
On Tuesday, the police arrested Song A Vau, 30, who was found carrying more than 3 kg of heroin on his motorbike.
Vau tried to elude the police when being pulled over on National Highway 15A in Thanh Hoa’s Quan Hoa District at 7:30 p.m.
He instead sped up and ran into a nearby forest. However, officers managed to catch up and arrest him.
Vau told the police he bought the heroin from Laos and was trafficking it to Thanh Hoa.
On Wednesday, the police caught Luong Van Thuong and Loc Van Sung red-handed trafficking 4 kg of heroin in Muong Lat Town.
Thuong, 40, and Loc, 34, attempted to flee into a nearby hospital, but failed.
The case is still under probe.
In related news, the Supreme People’s Court, the country’s top prosecution agency, has pressed charges against three women and a man in Bac Ninh Province, four members of a ring that smuggles heroin in northern provinces.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine 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.
