Chinese woman caught with 2.2 kg of drugs at airport

Customs officers caught a 26-year-old Chinese woman carrying 2.2 kg of methamphetamine hidden in her luggage at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday.

The woman, Li Chunying, had hidden the drugs in a complicated way in her luggage, officers said, adding that they have handed over the offender and the drugs to anti-drug police.

Li has been charged with “illegally transporting drugs,” police said.

Before arriving in Vietnam, Chunying had traveled through several countries without being detected, sources said.

So far this year, customs officers have uncovered at least five cases of drug trafficking.

The most recent case occurred on August 18, when customs officers caught fifty-year-old De Santos Kevin William, an Australian man, attempting to leave Vietnam with 1 kg of methamphetamine hidden on his calves.

On July 7, customs officers caught a Vietnamese-Canadian,V.M.D, 26, carrying 2,065 synthetic drug tablets in his suitcase upon his arrival from Hong Kong on flight CX767.

On June 25, HCMC police detained a 40-year-old Vietnamese-American, D. Jason, while attempting to board a flight for Sydney, Australia. He was caught carrying three heroin cakes weighing 1.1 kg.

On May 21, customs officers at Tan Son Nhat detected and seized 12 heroin cakes weighing 4.18 kg in total from two Vietnamese-Australian women on their way to Australia.

P.T.D., 36, and P.T.T.Q, 31, both of Australian nationality, were caught with the cakes hidden in their suitcases while going through security, preparing to board flight VN773 to Sydney.

On August 20, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced a 31-year-old Thai woman to death for trafficking 2 kg of drug from Brazil to Vietnam.

Chaimongkol Suracha was arrested on October 1, 2012 at the airport after customs officers caught her hiding four bags of white powder in two albums packed in her luggage.

She arrived on a flight from Dubai, where she had transferred after flying from Brazil.

Tests later confirmed that she had been smuggling 1.983 kg of cocaine.