Drug Crime Investigation Police Force cracks down on nearly 29,000 cases

	High-risk of foreigners colluding with drug traffickers to produce drugs in Vietnam
	Drug trafficking ring busted: Synthetic drugs concealed in pickled bamboo containers

Drug evidence in a case conducted by C04 in 2024. Photo: C04

According to C04's assessment, the drug crime situation is complicated on roads, at sea, and via air and postal routes.

The Northwest route is an area directly affected by the drug crime situation from the Golden Triangle and has always been identified as a key, complicated route for drug crimes and drug abuse in our country.

The main source of drugs is transported from the Golden Triangle through the provinces of Laos and then to the border provinces adjacent to Vietnam. When there is an opportunity, the subjects transport drugs across the border into Son La and Dien Bien provinces.

In addition, especially dangerous wanted subjects hiding in Van Ho district (Son La), Mai Chau district (Hoa Binh) and Dien Bien district (Dien Bien) collude and connect with domestic and foreign subjects to form drug trafficking and illegal transportation lines, causing many difficulties and challenges for the authorities.

The Northeast route of drug crimes is showing signs of becoming more complicated. This is an area with concentrated consumption points; where large and complicated drug gathering points are likely to arise. Subjects on the route often collude with people from other provinces and Lao, Chinese, relatives, clans, ethnic minorities, subjects in border areas to establish closed drug trafficking and transportation lines operating inter-route, inter-provincial, and transnational.

In the North Central - Central Highlands, drug crimes are still complicated with many potential risks. Drugs continue to be illegally bought, sold, and transported from Laos (Golden Triangle area), Cambodia to the provinces on the route and are increasingly unpredictable.

Subjects in the country collude with subjects living in border areas to operate drug trafficking, and at the same time hire groups of Lao people (armed) to illegally transport drugs across the border into the provinces of Vietnam.

Recently, authorities have discovered a large quantity, up to tons of synthetic drugs, which were opened by some subjects to prepare and produce right next to the Vietnamese border, transported to Vietnam and then transported to a third country for consumption.

On the Southwest route, the situation of Vietnamese people committing drug-related crimes in Cambodia is complicated and tends to increase. Many Vietnamese people often travel back and forth to Cambodia to do business, live, lead or collude with Chinese people to form drug trafficking routes from Cambodia across the border into Vietnam.

Drugs from Cambodia transported across the Southwest border are concentrated in the provinces of Tay Ninh, Long An, Dong Thap and recently have tended to move to Binh Phuoc, An Giang and from Laos through the North Central provinces and then gathered at warehouses in provinces bordering Ho Chi Minh City such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, etc then transferred to warehouses in districts of Ho Chi Minh City.

To disguise, the subjects often hide drugs in goods and then use companies established by the subjects to export them to third countries for consumption.

On sea, air and postal routes, the situation has also become extremely complicated.

Specifically, on air and postal routes, criminals have taken advantage of express delivery and consignment of goods and gifts to send goods that are disguised to hide drugs, making the drug crime situation on this route increasingly complicated.

On sea routes, there are many potential risks of illegal transportation of drugs in particularly large quantities. In 2024, the situation of drugs drifting along the coast of many localities such as Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Long An, etc. still recurs.

In that situation, with a spirit of determination and tireless efforts, the national police force has fought and discovered 28,713 cases, arresting 48,699 drug criminals as of the end of November 2024.

Seized evidence includes: 645 kg of heroin; 1.5 tons of marijuana; 3.1 tons and 3.6 million synthetic drug pills; 56 kg of opium; 115 guns and many bullets.

The Drug Crime Investigation Police Department alone fought 84 cases, arresting 358 subjects. The seized evidence included 190 kg of heroin; 850 kg and 642,000 synthetic drug pills, along with many military weapons and assets.

According to Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Vien, Director of Department C04, in order to continue achieving positive results in drug prevention, control and combat, in 2025 and the following years, the Drug Crime Investigation Police force will resolutely and synchronously deploy many solutions.

Notably, continuing to resolutely attack and destroy drug production, trading and illegal transportation lines, preventing drug sources from abroad into Vietnam from afar and early on.

Proactively control the situation, "not following behind criminals"; strengthen basic investigation work, grasp the situation on cyberspace, detect groups related to drug crime activities to have effective prevention and combat measures.

Establish special projects to thoroughly combat drug trafficking and transportation lines. Thoroughly implement the guiding viewpoint of resolutely combating drug crimes in the direction of expanding and eliminating the entire line, not just attacking the middle.

Clarifying the supply sources, lines, groups, points, gathering places, masterminds, leaders, and harborers of illegal drug use; subjects with acts of illegal production, transportation, and trading of drugs to trace the root cause and strictly handle them according to the provisions of law; absolutely not allowing any fragmentation to occur, etc.