Transnat’l drug trafficker arrested in Vietnam

HANOI, July 25 — A Vietnamese man, said to be the leader of a transnational drug trafficking ring, was arrested in Vietnam’s northern Hai Phong city as he was transporting more than 9.8 kg. of heroin and 8 kg. of ecstasy, the municipal police said Tuesday.

52-year-old Ngo Trac Hiep from Hai Phong, and other members of the ring bought lab-made drugs at the Vietnam-Laos border areas, and transported them to Vietnamese northern provinces for sale.

The man was arrested when he was driving his pickup truck with the drugs hidden in a special compartment of the vehicle along the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, police said, noting that they seized the biggest-ever amount of drugs in Hai Phong.

According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg. of methamphetamine face the death penalty, along with those making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs.