Liao Zhihuai, leader of a cross-border drug production and trafficking ring (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Public Security) Hanoi (VNA) – The Drug Crime Investigation Police Department (C04) under the Ministry of PublicSecurity announced on November 24 that it has smashed a cross-border drug productionand trafficking ring and launched legal proceedings against seven suspects.
The ring was led by Liao Zhihuai, a 43-year-old Chinese national.
According to the agency, in early August 2023, thedepartment was informed that two Taiwanese people intended to use fishing boats to transportdrugs from Vietnam to other countries for consumption via sea routes.
In early September, six suspects in the ringarrived in Vietnam. They booked hotels, rented cars, hired translators, rentedwarehouses and bought 100 tonnes of cement to gather at a warehouse in HongBang district, Hai Phong city. Then, they left the country.
On September 20, two members of the ring enteredVietnam. They moved to the warehouse in Hai Phong and directed the unloading ofsacks containing drugs hidden in the warehouse.
Two days later, the agency in coordination withrelevant agencies, including police of Hanoi, Hai Phong and Thai Binh, and the Vietnam ImmigrationDepartment, simultaneously arrested suspects involved in the case and searched thewarehouse where a total of 750kg of ketamine was found. Liao was also taken into custody.
Expanding the investigation into the case, onSeptember 24, the agency collaborated with Ha Tinh police to arrest Pham DuyKhanh, a local resident, who was hired to transport sacks containing drugs toVietnam. The police seized 22 sacks containing 550kg of ketamine which washidden in a fake gas tank and below the passenger seat, found after searching his car.
Liao told investigators that he and hisaccomplices set up a pharmaceutical company, then took advantage of it to buyprecursors and chemicals to produce synthetic drugs. Finished drugs aretransported to Vietnam via road and gathered in Thai Binh, then brought to HaiPhong for export to third countries, he added.
The suspects' companywas licensed to import 64 types of precursors, chemicals, and solvents with anamount of nearly 9,000 tons, worth more than 5.7 million USD within a year,according to the investigators.
Further investigation intothe case is underway./.
