Police in central Vietnam seized over half a ton of methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth, on Monday April 15th, in one of the biggest drug raids in recent years. Narcotics use in the one-party state country is on the rise, AFP has reported.
Police stormed a house occupied by an elderly couple in central Nghe An province where 600 kilograms (1,300 pounds) of meth were stored; some of it stuffed in speaker boxes. Four people were arrested in the bust.
The meth shipment was "about to be loaded onto trucks... for delivery", according to a report from Cong An Nhan Dan, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security. The source of the meth and where it was to be shipped to are not confirmed yet.
The raid follows a recent seizure of 30 kilograms of drugs in southern An Giang province, including about 18 kilograms of meth that was stored in packages of tea and vitamin supplements.
Synthetic narcotics, manufactured in the lawless "Golden Triangle" region straddling Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, often find their way into Vietnam, though homegrown labs have also been reported in recent years.
The communist country is both a hub for drug use and also a popular thoroughfare for shipments of illicit narcotics.
Opium and heroin are the favorite drugs among older users, but youngsters are increasingly turning to party drugs such as ecstasy, meth and ketamine.