At 1.30am on Sunday, the night patrol force of Hoa Phong Ward in Da Nang’s Hoa Vang District spotted a suspicious-looking character whilst on patrol in Duong Lam 1 hamlet.  32-year-old Lai Thanh Quyet from Nghe An Province’s Do Luong District was taken to the headquarters of the ward People’s Committee for questioning. 

During the investigation, the patrol force discovered that Quyet’s black handbag contained 2 suspicious packages of a white powder, a rectangular one and a yellow nylon one, and 2 plastic pipes.

Chairman Tho (white shirt) and the patrol force

During the interrogation, Mr Quyet admitted that the 540 grams of white powder was heroin.  He added that one of the plastic pipes contained 10 red synthetic drug tablets.  There was also a precision balance, an electric rod, and a drug-using kit.  In addition, the police found a pistol with 6 bullets.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman, Mr Huynh Duc Tho, presented 20 million VND from the city’s budget as a reward to the patrol force involved.  Chairman Tho praised them for capturing a dangerous drug offender and seizing the largest drugs haul recorded in the city since the start of this year.

He also asked them to continue with their efforts to increase vigilance against drug crimes and enhance the efficiency of their patrols in order to ensure security in the ward, and in the city as a whole.

During an expanded investigation, at around 1.30pm on the same day 42-year-old Le Van Hao from Quang Nam Province was caught in the act of illegally trafficking drugs by Hoa Vang District police officers and the Drug-related Crime Investigation Division (PC47) of the municipal Department of Police.  The police seized over 360 million VND in cash.

The case is under further investigation.