Police in Son La Province on the Laos border on August 19 seized 6.6 kilograms of heroin from a smuggling gang after a shoot-out.
A police source said they started shooting back after the gang of more than 10 people fired at them.
The gang fled after 20 minutes, leaving a gun and the drugs behind.
The police are looking for the smugglers.
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, drug running continues in border.
The Son La police arrested 25 people and seized around 300 kilograms of heroin smuggled in from Laos in a one-year period up to May 2015. This year too many drug smuggling attempts have been busted.
A Vietnamese Australian was arrested on July 24 in Tan Son Nhat Airport when she allegedly attempted to board a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia with nearly 5 kg of heroin in her baggage.
A Vietnamese Australian was arrested on July 24 in Tan Son Nhat Airport when she allegedly attempted to board a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia with nearly 5 kg of heroin in her baggage.
The People’s Court of the northern border province of Lang Son has pronounced two capital and two life sentences in a drug trafficking case involving 162 bricks of heroin that weigh over 60kg in total.
The People’s Court of the northern border province of Lang Son has pronounced two capital and two life sentences in a drug trafficking case involving 162 bricks of heroin that weigh over 60kg in total.
A man has been caught carrying 21 bricks of heroin weighing 7.4kg in Tan Phong hamlet, Si Pa Phin commune, Nam Po district, the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien.
A man has been caught carrying 21 bricks of heroin weighing 7.4kg in Tan Phong hamlet, Si Pa Phin commune, Nam Po district, the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien.