Half a ton of drugs seized in the peak six months at the Southwest border

	Review large cases of smuggling handled by customs in the first quarter
	Over 1,000 drug-related violations handled in Operation Mekong Dragon
	Ha Tinh Customs handles 23 cases of violations, smuggling and trade fraud

The delegates attended the conference. Photo: C04.

On April 13, 2022 in An Giang, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department (C04, Ministry of Public Security) held a conference to review the performance of the plan on preventing and fighting drug crimes in the Southwest.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities strictly controlled people and vehicles crossing the border, and the smugglers hid drugs in rice and fruit and took advantage of priority vehicles (green channel) to illegally bring narcotics across the border to Ho Chi Minh City for consumption.

Meanwhile, the trend of drug trafficking and use of synthetic drugs in Cambodia has been increasing. In particular, suspects changed methods from buying, selling and transporting drugs from abroad into Cambodia to produce synthetic drugs in the country.

The authorities of the southwestern border provinces and Ho Chi Minh City have identified seven key routes for drug traffickers from Cambodia across the southwestern border to inland for consumption. In the country, the authorities identified 37 key routes, 80 key areas, 106 gathering places, and 19 complex places for crime and drug abuse.

After six months of implementing the plan on preventing and fighting drug crimes on the Southwest route, police units and localities have achieved many important results and developed specific solutions throughout the ministry to the grassroots level.

As a result, C04, Police of six Southwest provinces and Ho Chi Minh City Police handled 1,120 cases and 2,097 suspects.

The seized goods included 25,590 tablets and 322.77kg of synthetic drugs; 67 packs and 81.8kg of heroin; 54.65kg of cannabis; four guns, 88 bullets, a grenade, and many other related assets and exhibits.

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Local investigating police agencies have handled 2,045 cases and 2,837 defendants, abolished 73 points and 17 gathering places and are fighting 36 points and two drug-related complexities.