HCMC – Police in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Province and Laos’ Houaphanh Province have dismantled two cross-border drug trafficking rings and seized more than 23 kilograms of narcotics and precursor chemicals that were allegedly being smuggled into Vietnam through civilian transport networks, authorities said on May 14.
The haul included more than 26,000 synthetic pills, 2.5 bars of heroin, 3.1 kilograms of liquid narcotics commonly referred to as “happy water,” 4.5 kilograms of kratom leaves, and 12 kilograms of precursor chemicals used in heroin production.
Preliminary investigations found that the trafficking rings exploited cross-border passenger transport services and delivery drivers to move drugs from the Golden Triangle (the region in Southeast Asia where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers) and the Lao capital of Vientiane to Houaphanh Province before attempting to smuggle them into Vietnam for distribution.
Authorities said the suspects used ordinary parcel delivery methods to disguise shipments and frequently changed transportation tactics, reflecting an increasingly sophisticated approach to evading law enforcement detection.
Police described the operation as evidence of effective cross-border cooperation between Thanh Hoa police and their Lao counterparts. Since September 2025, the two sides have jointly uncovered two transnational drug trafficking rings and handled 14 related cases involving 19 suspects through coordinated investigations and intelligence sharing.
