Pubdate: Mon, 28 Apr 2014
Source: Thanh Nien (Vietnam)
Copyright: Thanh Nien 2014
Contact: http://www.thanhniennews.com/contactus/
Website: http://www.thanhniennews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5070

VIETNAM HUB TO TIGHTEN AIRPORT DRUG DETECTION

A Ho Chi Minh City leader has asked relevant forces to step up
anti-drug screenings at Tan Son Nhat airport and crack down on
hotspots due to an explosion in drug-related arrests and seizures.

Le Thanh Hai, chief of the city's Party Unit, made the remark Saturday
at a five-year review of the Politburo's decree on enhanced drug
prevention and control.

Phan Anh Minh, vice director of the HCMC police department, said the
city arrested around 16,000 people for drug crimes in the past five
years, up 20 percent from the previous five years.

The police seized 123 kilograms of heroin, a 2.5 fold increase, and
142 kilograms of synthetic drugs, a 22-fold increase, Minh said.

He said Tan Son Nhat International Airport has become a gateway for
smuggling drugs into Vietnam and a transit point for carrying drugs on
to third countries.

Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang told the meeting that drug
crimes in the Southeast Asian region are getting more "complicated,"
partly due to the expansion of drug trafficking rings that smuggle
drugs by air into Southeast Asia from Africa, the Middle East and
Central Asia.

He asked HCMC police to enhance information sharing with other
countries to combat transnational drug trafficking.

Duong Ngoc Hai, deputy head of the HCMC People's Procuracy, the
municipal prosecutors' office, told Thanh Nien that Vietnam typically
only sentences low-level drug mules due to its poor connections with
foreign police.

Vietnam arrested 138,600 people for drug crimes in the last five
years. Around 3,358 kilograms of drugs of various kinds were
confiscated.

Vietnam takes a hard line on drugs; anyone found guilty of attempting
to smuggle more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine faces the death
penalty.
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