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Shots fired as Vietnam police take down heroin trafficker

By Phuong Son - Gia Chinh March 19, 2017 | 03:53 pm GMT+7

'It was just like an action movie,' a witness said of the violent chase from Hoa Binh Province to Hanoi.

Police in northern Vietnam fired shots and flipped a car on Saturday night as they chased down a drug dealer carrying nearly 35 kilograms of heroin, worth an estimated $500,000-800,000.

Camera footage from a toll station in Chuong My District showed dozens of police officers and several police cars chasing an SUV at around 10 p.m. Saturday.
Officers shot out a rear wheel of the car but it failed to stop until a police car rammed it, causing it to flip over.

“The driver and several people in the car fled the scene as they tried to fight off the police," an eyewitness said. "It was just like an action movie.”

Police officers confirmed that one man was arrested in possession of nearly 35 kilograms of heroin.

They said the raid was carried out by the Ministry of Public Security in coordination with officers from Hanoi and neighboring Hoa Binh Province.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported that police in Hoa Binh also arrested two people on Saturday afternoon with around 10 kilograms of heroin.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.

Although the laws have been strictly enforced with capital punishment handed down regularly, there is no sign that drug running has been deterred.