227 indicted in racket that used flight attendants to smuggle drugs from France to Vietnam

Ha Danh Nam, a 52-year-old man from Nghe An Province, was identified as the mastermind, who allegedly concealed narcotics inside toothpaste tubes and packaged them together with bags of laundry detergent, coffee, cocoa powder, chocolate candies, toothbrushes, mouthwash, shampoo, and other items.

He later hired four Vietnamese female flight attendants to carry the drug-laden shipments from France to Vietnam in March 2023.

Among the defendants, Nam and three other ring members remain at large and are wanted, and have been proposed for trial in absentia in accordance with the law.

The indictment states that Hoang Sy Thang, a key figure in the network who was allegedly hired by Nam to receive the drugs in Vietnam, and his accomplices have been charged with multiple offenses.

The charges include illegal narcotics trafficking, distribution and possession; organizing illegal drug use; failure to report crimes; harboring offenders; illegal appropriation of property; and using fake documents of agencies and organizations.

The case was uncovered on March 16, 2023 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, when customs officers detected abnormalities in the carry-on luggage of four flight attendants of national carrier Vietnam Airlines.

They later coordinated with relevant authorities to inspect the luggage and found a total of 327 toothpaste tubes, of which 157 contained more than 2.9 kilograms of ketamine, a synthetic drug, and over 8.3 kilograms of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

The four flight attendants — Vo Tu Quynh, Tran Thi Thu Ngan, Nguyen Thanh Thuy, and Dang Phuong Van — were immediately taken into custody for investigation.

On March 17, 2023, the airport customs sub-department transferred the case file to Ho Chi Minh City police for investigation.

Five days later, all the flight attendants were released after investigators concluded there was no basis for criminal charges, finding they were unaware they were carrying drugs.

After a prolonged investigation, on March 13, 2026, the investigation police agency concluded the probe and forwarded the case file to the municipal People's Procuracy, recommending prosecution of all 227 defendants.

Investigators determined that Nam organized six prior shipments.

He allegedly concealed drugs in toothpaste tubes and boxes of functional food and took advantage of Vietnamese nationals studying and residing in France to send the shipments to Vietnam via international express delivery services through Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

All the shipments were later consolidated at a receiving point in southern Dong Nai Province, where Thang received them.

He allegedly broke down and repackaged the drugs before instructing his nephew-in-law, Bui Van Anh, to distribute them to drug networks in Ho Chi Minh City and the former Binh Duong Province, which was merged into the city under a national administrative restructuring effective July 1, 2025.

Payments to Thang reportedly ranged from VND6 million (US$227) to VND50 million ($1,890) per delivery, with part of the proceeds shared with Anh.

Regarding the four flight attendants, investigators concluded that they were assigned together on a Vietnam–France flight for the first time and agreed to transport 60 kilograms of consumer goods, including toothpaste and toothbrushes, from France to Vietnam for Nam in exchange for payment based on cargo weight at a rate of 6.5 euros ($7.5) per kilogram.

Authorities found that the flight attendants had no prior relationship, communication, or financial transactions with Nam, Thang, or other suspects in the case.

Investigators reiterated that there was no legal basis to charge them with drug trafficking.