Vietnamese customs officials nab airline flight attendants transporting illegal drugs

They say someone in France paid them hundreds of dollars to carry ‘some goods.’
By RFA Vietnamese
2023.03.17
Vietnamese customs officials nab airline flight attendants transporting illegal drugs Custom officers inspect toothpaste tubes filled with drugs as one of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants, who carried the tubes in their baggage, looks on, at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Image grab from Vietnamese state media video

Updated at 7:46 P.M. EDT on 03-21-2023

Members of a Vietnam Airlines crew on an international flight from Paris to Ho Chi Minh City were arrested at an airport in Vietnam on Thursday after customs officers found illicit drugs in toothpaste tubes they were carrying, state media reported.

Customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City detected the drugs in the baggage of four female flight attendants during a security clearance check. 

The flight attendants — Dang Phuong Van, Tran Thi Thu Ngan, Vo Tu Quynh and purser Nguyen Thanh Thuy — were carrying 112 toothpaste tubes containing 8.4 kilograms (18.5 lbs.), including package weight, of gray tablets and 42 toothpaste tubes containing 3.04 kilos (6.7 lbs.) of white powder. Quick tests indicated that the substances contained MDMA, commonly referred to as ecstasy; ketamine, a short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects; and cocaine.

Thuy, 37, and the other three flight attendants said someone in France paid them more than 10 million dong, or about U.S.$424, to help transport “some goods” to Vietnam.

Law enforcement officials have not disclosed information about the person. 

The attendants also told authorities that they quickly checked the toothpaste because they were tired from another long-haul flight, but did not find any signs of tampering.

At a press conference held by Ho Chi Minh City’s Customs Department on Friday, Bui Le Hung, director of the airport customs office, said it was “regrettable” that one newspaper ran the story early, thereby making the drug traffickers aware that law enforcement agencies were on to them while authorities expanded their investigation to go after the culprits. 

As a result, the culprits never showed up at the airport to collect the toothpaste, he said.

Nguyen Huu Nghiep, the office's deputy director, refused to disclose what tipped off authorities during the screening of the attendants’ luggage. 

A Vietnam Airlines representative said the national flag carrier was working with relevant agencies on the case.

The arrested flight attendants are fairly young and only have about one year of work experience with the airline, he said, adding that they may have believed that they were helping friends to transport goods to Vietnam.

From January 1 to March 14, customs officials at Tan Son Nhat International Airport detected eight cases of drug trafficking and confiscated nearly 15 kilos (33 lbs.) of various illegal narcotics. 

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Joshua Lipes.

Correction: The story was corrected to say that customs authorities found MDMA, commonly referred to as ecstasy, and not methamphetamine. An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of one of the flight attendants as Tran Thi Thu Nga.

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COMMENTS

Li Zhang
Mar 18, 2023 07:20 PM

💙Jail them for at least 20 years no parole 🔥

Nas Ordep
Mar 18, 2023 11:37 PM

Those strategies are happening around the world. As flight attendants, they should be very aware of such drug tarffickers tactics.
Possibilities:
1. They are not aware of it. They are just gullible.
2. They are aware and applied to be in that business, as a drug courier.
Syndicates penetrate even high ranking military or police officials and even politicians. They know money talks.

LG
Mar 19, 2023 03:37 AM

This is what happens when females are treated like Goddesses! Western culture has brainwashed the masses that females can do no harm ! When in fact everyone forgets the story of Adam & Eve !!!