Vietnam police arrest man with 70,000 amphetamine pills
HANOI - Police in Vietnam have arrested a man with 70,000 tablets of methamphetamine, weighing around 20 kilograms, local media said Friday. Du Kim Dung, 39, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of drug trafficking. Police discovered the tablets in a suitcase during a search of Dung's home in Haiphong City, 100 kilometers east of Hanoi.
Police also found two guns in his house, and two other firearms in his BMW sedan, the report said.
The newspaper said Dung brought the drugs into Vietnam from foreign countries and then sold the pills in large discotheques and bars in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Haiphong City.
Methamphetamine is a popular drug in Vietnam. Scores of young Vietnamese have been arrested using the pills at dance clubs, karaoke bars and in hotel rooms.
Laboratories inside Burma produce most of the synthetic drugs that end up in Vietnam. Not only is illegal drug use in Vietnam on the rise, but international drug enforcement agencies believe the country is becoming a larger player in drug trafficking to third countries.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, there were 76,443 drug cases over the past six years. In that time, police have arrested 119,286 people and seized 1.28 tons of heroin, 1.77 tons of opium and 800,000 drug tablets, mostly methamphetamine.
Trafficking 600 grams or more of heroin is punishable by death in Vietnam. The country sentenced at least 118 people to death in 2007, including 85 for drug crimes.
Deutsche Presse Agentur - February 22, 2008.
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