A total 5kg of synthetic drugs was found in luggage belongingto Cambodian national Miech Sreyneang after being scanned at Moc Bai BorderGate in the southern province of Tay Ninh on December 2.
Earlier, on October 27, Moc Bai Border Gate customs seized5kg of meth hidden inside Cambodian man Hai Dieb’s bag. He was then arrestedfor further investigation.
Some 13kg of synthetic drugs was confiscated by the Ministryof Public Security’s Department of Anti-smuggling investigation and HCM CityPolice in September also at the border gate.
The drugs were hidden inside the engine block of a coach fromPhnom Penh en route to HCM City.
Heroin, cannabis, ecstasy and amphetamine-type stimulants(ATS) are taken from Cambodia and hidden among imported cargo and touristsluggage through local border gates of Moc Bai and Xa Mat to HCM City and othersouthern provinces.
Traffickers try all means to disable scanners and servicedogs, including dividing the shipment into smaller loads and wrapping the drugsin thick layers of tape and hiring tourists to deliver them.
To track down international drug trafficking rings, Tay Ninhprovince has launched several investigations into seizures and signedagreements with three Cambodia’s localities of Svay Rieng, Tbong Khmum and PreyVeng to tighten monitoring along the border between the two countries.
In 2017, Tay Ninh province’s law enforcement forcescollaborated with Cambodia’s Bavet City Police to confiscate a record haul ofnearly 63,500 drug tablets weighing 17kg, Hai Quan (Customs)newspaper reported.
From 2016 to September 2019, provincial authorities startedlegal proceedings in 40 drug-trafficking cases involving 58 traffickers andmore than 103kg of synthetic drugs.
A border liaison office has also been established between thetwo countries to exchange information on drug rings, suspects and tacticscriminals use to deliver drugs from Cambodia to Vietnam. Tay Ninh province’s policetackled two drug trafficking cases thanks to information collected by theoffice.
The end of 2019 and the coming Tet (VietnameseLunar New Year) are expected to witness more drug and fireworks smuggling casesthrough border gates in Tay Ninh.
The provincial Committee for Combating Smuggling, CommercialFraud and Counterfeit Goods said they had organised campaigns to push backcrime along the Cambodia – Vietnam border.
An annual report issued by United Nations Office on Drugs andCrime (UNDOC) in March 2019 reported the record seizure of ATS and newpsychoactive substances of 116 tonnes in East Asia and Southeast Asia in 2018.
Drug markets in ASEAN countries are switching from heroin toATS, according to UNDOC’s Global SMART Programme. Vietnam, in particular, hasrecognised the rise of meth originating from the Golden Triangle beingtrafficked from neighbouring countries Cambodia, Laos and China.
The National Committee on AIDS, Drugs and Prostitute Controlof Vietnam was established in 2000 to prevent, combat and control drugs by2030, with community-based approaches playing an essential role to preventdrugs from being smuggled across the country’s border./.