Vietnam Airlines Crew Caught with Toothpaste Tubes Full of Drugs

Vietnam’s authorities have arrested 65 individuals on drug smuggling charges, including those who had hidden over 50kg of drugs in toothpaste tubes, according to BBC.

Four Vietnam Airlines cabin crew members were caught carrying toothpaste tubes containing drugs after a flight from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City, the report said.

While they claimed to have been hired to transport 60kg of toothpaste, they did not know that it contained ecstasy, ketamine, and cocaine.

Investigators discovered that half of the 327 toothpaste tubes that the flight attendants carried contained drugs, and the women are presently out on bail.

The BBC reports that the arrested individuals are being investigated for charges related to buying, selling, transporting, and storing narcotics, among other things. Police believe that the same smuggling ring that hired the flight attendants directed the 65 suspects.

They also suspect that the syndicate frequently employs Vietnamese citizens who are studying and living in France to smuggle drugs into Vietnam.

According to the BBC, after arriving at Vietnamese airports, the drugs are transported by domestic delivery services to an accomplice in Dong Nai province, which borders Saigon. The drugs are then transported to various localities for distribution.

Despite having some of the harshest drug laws in the world, Vietnam remains a major drug-trafficking hub.

Additionally, the amount of drugs seized via air routes into the country over the past three months has exceeded the amount of airborne drugs trafficked in the past five years combined.

Ho Chi Minh City’s proximity to neighboring Cambodia makes it an attractive transit point for smugglers.

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