Part 7: Special case 218LP – Cut off the last link in the chain of transportation of over 1 ton of drugs

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The Minister of Public Security To Lam (the fifth from the right) awarded letters of commendation to the units involved in the case. Photo: T.H.

Control the border and monitor offenders

Case 218LP was established by the Investigation Police Department on drug-related crimes (C04) and the Ministry of Public Security from January 2019 with the participation of the Customs and Border Guard forces.

Receiving information that on March 19, Wu Heshan directed two men to drive trucks carrying 300kg of methamphetamine from the border area of ​​Bo Y and Kon Tum to the warehouses of the HESHAN company limited in ​​Binh Hung Hoa B ward, Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City to deliver to Huang ZaiWen, the Board in charge of the case decided to investigate the case.

Hundreds of scouts from the Police, Customs and Border Guard forces divided into 3 reconnaissance groups to follow the movements of offenders from Bo Y border to Ho Chi Minh City.

The leader of the Southern Anti-smuggling and Drug Enforcement Team (Team 6) under the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Customs) sent forces to review import and export activities of the suspects; coordinated with the Drug Enforcement Team of Tay Ninh Customs Department, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department and Customs Control Team - Gia Lai Kon Tum Customs Department to closely control the customs area for entry, exit and in transit through Vietnam at border gates of Kon Tum and Tay Ninh. Assigning 3 groups accompanying 3 reconnaissance teams to monitor warehouses suspected of storing drugs and follow suspects at the border area.

Following suspects from the border to Ho Chi Minh City, on March 20, 2019, the reconnaissance groups arrested offenders and inspected suspected drug locations including four warehouses at Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City. The Board arrested 13 offenders (3 Vietnamese, 10 Chinese); seized 300 kg of methamphetamine and many other related assets and evidence. According to the Board, this warehouse was a place for gathering drugs for concealment in containers of plastic for export to Taiwan (China).

Customs officers said that the investigation process was made difficult because of sophisticated tricks. After many days of monitoring at the border gate, at 09:00 the suspects appeared. They drove trucks from Bo Y border gate towards Ho Chi Minh City. However, at 24:00, when they arrived at Bu Dang – Binh Phuc, they suddenly returned to Dak Nong to rent a hotel, and then continued to travel to Ho Chi Minh City at 05:00 the following day and were arrested.

300 kg of drugs were arrested in the final stage of the 218LP case.

Cut off the transport chain of more than 1 ton of drugs

This drug chain is run by Chinese people, their operation is extremely sophisticated. The police agency determined that this is a route of transnational trafficking of large amounts of drugs from abroad into Vietnam and then for transport to a third country via air or sea. According to the Specialized Board, the case of 294kg of synthetic drugs transported through Cau Treo border gate, Ha Tinh, seized by Ha Tinh Border Guard and Police forces on February 17, 2019, was carried out by Vangchueyang Briachear (25 years old, residing in Vang Ban, Xay Cham Phon district, Blykhamxay province, Laos); and the case of more than 308kg of synthetic drugs, discovered and seized by the Traffic Police Division of Quang Binh provincial police on October 12, 2018, on National Road 1A, crossing the territory of Hung Thuy commune, Le Thuy district, Quang Binh.

After implementing the first stage of the special case, some offenders were arrested but the leaders of this operation still direct the transport of drugs from the Golden Triangle to Vietnam and then to a third country.

According to Major General Pham Van Cac, Director of C04, the drug traffickers are very good with technology, cunning and willing to fight with weapons. Therefore, the participants in the case must be professional, experienced and sensitive.

To break this chain, the Specialized Board must split into several stages from the Central province to Ho Chi Minh City. The scouts must persevere for months and deploy professional measures to follow and collect evidence.

“The main difficulty in the 218LP case is that the leaders are foreigners, they send foreigners to Ho Chi Minh City to manage drug delivery and use very modern technical facilities. Thanks to the quickness and perseverance of the forces, we successfully broke the case,” said Major General Pham Van Cac.

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In the process of monitoring this chain of activity, the reconnaissance force encountered many difficulties. Because the offenders are Chinese the language barrier is a problem and these offenders travel frequently between countries. The offenders operate in a tight circle and only communicate with each other by code to signal the delivery of goods, so the reconnaissance force have to be patient to learn and decode.

After cutting off the two links in the chain in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, the Board cut off the last link to break the transnational drug chain, arrest the boss and his employees in Vietnam and seize more than 1 ton of drugs.