Prime Minister sends letter praising the achievement of arresting foreign drug lord who opened a drug factory

Inside the drug factory. (Photo: Provided by Police)

In response to the exceptionally outstanding achievements of the forces participating in the fight to destroy a large-scale synthetic drug factory with modern equipment and advanced technology in Khanh Hoa province, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a letter of commendation to the Task Force.

In the letter, the Prime Minister warmly commended and highly appreciated the outstanding achievements of the Special Task Force. The achievements of the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department (C04, Ministry of Public Security) in coordination with Khanh Hoa Provincial Police, Department of Technical Services (Ministry of Public Security), Khanh Hoa Provincial Customs Department, Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department, Customs Department (Ministry of Finance), Department 4 - Supreme People's Procuracy, demonstrated the intelligence and determination to attack and suppress crime, accurately and accurately hit large, transnational drug production lines.

This achievement contributes to preventing the supply of drugs, preventing Vietnam from becoming an international drug transit area, and contributing to building a domestic environment and drug-free region.

This feat also demonstrates the close international cooperation between the Vietnamese Public Security force and the Chinese Public Security force and the effective coordination and combat coordination between the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies.

As reported, in August 2024, the Anti-Drug Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China provided information that two subjects with a history of illegal drug production were exporting to Vietnam. At the same time, they exchanged information about a shipment of glass pipes transported to Vietnam, suspected of being related to illegal drug production.

After a month of collecting information, C04 decided to establish project 199D, determined to eradicate the network and arrest all subjects.

After 6 months of establishing a special project and monitoring all movements of the subjects, C04 identified the leader of this line as Truong Xuan Minh, 51 years old, Taiwanese (China). Minh came to Vietnam in 2021, creating a cover for investment, business, and ornamental fish farming. Minh lives as husband and wife with Pham Thi Le Han, 30 years old in Khanh Hoa. Minh's effective assistant is Nguyen Dinh Dong, 31 years old in Bac Giang.

In November 2024, Truong Xuan Minh asked someone to rent a 1,000m2 plot of land in the Northern cemetery, Vinh Luong commune, Nha Trang. Minh assigned people to guard it, installed surveillance cameras, and raised dogs to detect intruders.

To gather raw materials, chemicals and related equipment, Minh rented an additional 300m2 plot of land ^3km from the facility.

Then, this "boss" hired 2 Chinese people and 4 Vietnamese people to construct and build the facility, install a 3-phase electrical system, buy generators, and install drug production lines.

At the end of January 2025, when the factory was completed, the subjects transferred raw materials and chemicals and started producing about 1.8 tons of yellow powder, packed it into 27 foam boxes, and then sent it to a cold storage in Nha Trang. At the same time, Minh announced that he would stop production and let the subjects go home. At this stage, the subjects created a cover for producing foaming agents for wastewater treatment.

C04 supervised the entire transportation process to the cold storage, secretly took samples, and coordinated with C09 for examination. The results showed that the subjects had produced hydroxylimine - a precursor.

Just a few days later, Truong Xuan Minh recruited four other people and hired two Taiwanese (Chinese) people with drug production skills to continue with the second phase. Minh bought military pots, cotton, plastic baskets, and industrial gas stoves. The finished products in the first phase were brought back to the factory, solvents were added, and they were continuously heated on a gas stove. Then, they were filtered through a layer of cotton to create sediment and then centrifuged to produce a white powder. Next, the subjects took them to 47 Cat Loi to carry out the final phase to produce pure ketamine.

At 0:00 on March 22, nearly 200 officers and soldiers simultaneously arrested subjects who were illegally producing drugs. The investigation agency arrested all 16 subjects, including 7 Chinese and Taiwanese (China) subjects, and seized 208 kg of ketamine and nearly 20 tons of chemicals.

Factory with 7 large capacity reactor and refrigeration systems, centrifuges, odor treatment... serving drug production. (Photo: Provided by Police)

According to Department C04, this is a synthetic drug factory with an exceptionally large scale, modern equipment lines, advanced technology, the largest in Vietnam to be destroyed to date. In particular, the finished drug products have the purest content produced by highly skilled subjects. No small amount of drugs from this factory have been sold outside the Vietnamese market or transported for sale.

Given the complexity of the case, on the afternoon of March 24, 2025, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Long, Deputy Minister, Head of the Investigation Police Agency of the Ministry of Public Security, directly went to the scene to inspect and direct the investigation and expansion of the case.

On the same afternoon, Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Long presented the Ministry of Public Security's bonus decision to 20 groups. Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan, Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, presented the bonus decision of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee to 5 groups with outstanding achievements in fighting the special case.

The case is under further investigation./.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/thu-tuong-gui-thu-khen-chien-cong-bat-ong-trum-nuoc-ngoai-mo-xuong-ma-tuy-696968.html