HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Several recentlarge drug seizures in Ho Chi Minh City have raised concerns over the extent ofdrug crimes in the southern economic hub, and the local administration isfighting back.

In addition, thanks to widespread mediacoverage, abnormal behaviour after meth use is no longer a rarely seenphenomenon.

On March 11, 26-year-old Nguyen Hoang Nam in HCMCity went on a violent killing spree that claimed the lives of both hisparents, his grandmother and his girlfriend’s grandmother, reportedly fueled bythe girlfriend’s family’s disapproval of his criminal record and meth.

Meth use by long-distance drivers also recentlycame to the forefront of public consciousness after a druggeddriver ploughed through a crowd of people at a traffic intersection in DaLat in March, luckily, there was no casualty, but the same could not be saidabout an accident in January that killed eight in Hai Duong province, also by adriver on meth.

Given HCM City has the largest number of drugaddicts in the country -- approximately 23,000 registered, making up 10 percentof the country’s figure -- there's public demand for law enforcement agenciesto handle these incidents.

Dr Huynh Thanh Hien from the HCM City MentalHealth Hospital said the highs users get from crystal meth frequently involvedelusions and aggression. Long-term abuse can alter the user’s personality, aswell as damage the body and cognitive functions.

Hien also cautioned against a commonmisconception among the community that crystal meth is not as addictive asheroin or can be used to relieve dependence from the opium, which often leadsto double addictions.

According to law enforcement agencies, drugtrafficking has become a complicated matter as aside from traditional deliverymethods, the ease of making purchases of these illegal substances online viasocial media have contributed to the rise of drug uses, thwarting authorities'attempts to curb addiction.

In 2018, the city discovered nearly 1,400drug-related cases involving nearly 3,000 individuals. About 2,500 were chargedwith trafficking and possession, up by 15 per cent compared to last year, withthe amount of meth seized up 75 per cent (512kg in total).

Characterising drugs as “the mother of allcrimes,” Minister of Public Security To Lam said attempts to reduce crimeswould be for naught if drug crimes were not contained.

Intensified crackdowns have uprooted drug ringsin northern mountainous areas, forcing criminals to move southward, elevatingthe risks of turning HCM City into both a ‘terminal’ to move drugs originatingin the Golden Triangle area to other countries, and a consumer market.

Nguyen Huu Nghiep, deputy head of the city’scustoms department, said traffickers have taken advantage of the city’spolicies aiming at easing customs procedures, especially automatic electronicdeclarations, to sneak drugs in and out of the country – usually by insertingdrugs into the sleeves or linings of goods’ packages like CDs holders,computers’ hard disk drives, or vacuum cleaners.

The traffickers also use fake ID cards todeposit goods or hire an agency to declare the goods at customs to avoid thedrugs being traced back to them.

HCM City Customs in recent times has madelarge-scale drug seizures from the US, Canada and some European countries thatwere brought to Vietnam via airways, post or express delivery services, Nghiepsaid, adding that from the beginning of 2018, the customs department also tooknotice of the rise in the trafficking of MDMA, or ecstasy.

In the recent bust of the largest amount ofdrugs ever in the country, which involved a ring that transported nearly 1tonne of drugs over the span of nearly two years, HCM City authoritiesdiscovered another ruse that traffickers have been utilising: hiding drug packsin sacks of plastic beads meant to be exported to other countries, which meanthey will not have to pass usual scanning at customs.

Aside from crackdowns on trans-provincial andtrans-national drug rings, local authorities are also working to curb demandfrom the city's drug addicts.

The department also warned that drug addicts inthe city are getting younger and are more likely to be dependent on multipletypes of drugs at the same time.

Le Dong Phong, director of the city’s policedepartment, said a preliminary survey of addicts in the city showed 80-90 percentof them tested positive to drugs not on the authorities’ list of bannedsubstances, necessitating a survey of addicts for appropriate preventivemeasures.

The municipal People’s Committee said it hadsupported grassroots drug rehab centres’ efforts to help addicts end drugdependence and provide psychological counselling to help them re-integrate theminto the community and prevent relapses.

Dr Hien from HCM City Mental Health Hospitalsaid that to prevent the danger of drugs, education and awareness raisingprogrammes must be a critical component in the curriculum of students startingfrom secondary high school, saying that this is “the most affordable and safemeasure.”-VNS/VNA