Dak Lak police bust cross-border drug ring, seize 1.8kg of crystal meth

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Three men are escorted by police after being caught red-handed trafficking 1.8kg of narcotics from the border with Laos to the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak. (Photo: VNA)

Dak Lak’s police on June 20 said it is expanding investigation into a major drug ring after three men were caught red-handed trafficking 1.8kg of narcotics from the border with Laos to the Central Highlands province.

Around 3:30am on the same day, the police found 1.8kg of crystal meth, worth 450 million VND (19,340 USD), hidden under the seats of a car travelling on Ho Chi Minh Road crossing Cu Ne commune, Krong Buk district, with three people on board.

They include driver Le Thanh Anh, 27, from Chu Pah district of the neighbouring Gia Lai province; Hoang Linh, 32, from Krong Ana district, Dak Lak; and Luu Van Thai, 35, from Hai Phong.

Linh confessed that he was hired by a Vietnamese man named Duc to get the drug from A Thao, a foreign national, in Kon Tum’s Bo Y Border Gate and then deliver it to a buyer named Dung in Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak. If he succeeds, he will be paid 36 million VND (1,548 USD).

Linh and his companions were arrested by the police while on the way to carry the drug to Buon Ma Thuot to hand it to Dung.