Warning after case of 4 flight attendants carrying drugs

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At the press conference about the seizure of more than 11kg of drugs illegally transported by air in the four flight attendants’ carry-on bags of the national carrier Vietnam Airlines, the leader of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department said that this is a serious and unprecedented case.

When carrying out procedures for the luggage of passengers and crew on the arrival of flight VN10 of Vietnam Airlines from France to Vietnam, through scanning and other skills, the procedures team of Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs Branch discovered the suspicions for four flight attendants’ baggage, according to customs officials,

Among the four flight attendants, three are very young: two born in 1993 are V.T.Q and T.T.T.N; and D.P.V born in 1996.

When checking the baggage of D.P.V., the Customs authority discovered more than 4 kg of drugs hidden in toothpaste tubes and mouthwash bottles.

Checking the baggage of V.T.Q and T.T.T.N, the Customs found 3.18 kg of drugs in 43 toothpaste tubes with the words "Signal Expert White", and 780 grams of ecstasy, respectively.

Similarly, N.T.T's luggage has 43 toothpaste tubes with the words "Signal Expert White", containing 3.18 kg of drugs.

When arrested, the flight attendants were all very shocked and cooperated very well with the investigation agency. Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department Dinh Ngoc Thang said he did not understand why the young flight attendants did that. This is a warning for young people to act without thinking.

According to Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department Nguyen Huu Nghiep, the Customs authority also detected violations by flight attendants about "carrying" infringing goods, but this is the first time they had found a flight attendant-related drug smuggling case.

Through the above incident, the leader of the city Customs issued a warning that everyone, especially those who work in management agencies must be very vigilant when carrying goods.

At the end of 2011, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch discovered Tran Ha Tien, a 3rd-year student of a university in Ho Chi Minh City, on flight QR688 from Doha (Qatar) to Vietnam and carry 4.1kg of drugs hidden in a double-bottomed suitcase.

Accordingly, the policy agency expanded the investigation, the police agency arrested Tien's elder sister, Tran Ha Duy, 23, who is also a student involved in this drug ring. According to Tran Ha Tien's confession, with the introduction of her elder sister, Tien was hired by a Nigerian man named Francis to carry the drugs to Doha with a remuneration of 1,000 USD/case.

In addition to having her younger sister fulfill Francis' delivery request, Duy also asked his friend Huynh Ngoc Loi to carry a suitcase containing 3.5 kg of drugs to Vietnam, then to Cambodia and was arrested by the police.

However, the investigation revealed that Loi did not know that the suitcase contained drugs, so there were not enough grounds for criminal handling. In this case, the investigating agency determined that Duy was taken in custody for 7.5 kg of drugs hidden in the suitcases of Loi and Tien.

Up to the day of her arrest, Duy and his accomplices had smuggled drugs for Francis in 11 cases from many countries.

On March 27, 2012, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Tran Ha Duy to life in prison and Tran Ha Tien to 20 years in prison for the same crime of "illegal transportation of drugs.”

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