US embassy cable - 04HANOI2734

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; INL/AAE; PACOM AND BANGKOK ALSO FOR 
JIATF-W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR, KCRM, PINS, VM, CNARC 
SUBJECT:  VIETNAM'S LARGEST DRUG CASE EVER 
 
REF:  Hanoi 663 
 
1. (U) Summary and Comment:  Recent counternarcotics 
successes, culminating in the arrest of the key members of a 
drug syndicate billed as the nation's largest ever, have not 
lifted the flagging spirits of Vietnam's counterdrug 
officers.  Departing from their usual relentlessly 
optimistic propaganda, GVN police have acknowledged that 
trafficking into Vietnam is increasing and that enforcement 
and interdiction efforts are not deterring traffickers from 
pursuing the astronomical profits available to them.  Based 
on what we know and are continuing to learn about the extent 
of the drug problem here, it appears that U.S. assistance in 
this fight - although modest - is well leveraged and 
targeted in the right places.   End Summary and Comment. 
 
2. (U) Vietnam's state-controlled media has recently given 
prominent coverage to what was described as the "largest 
drug case ever" in Vietnam.  The Ministry of Public Security 
(MPS) began its official investigation of 47 suspects 
arrested in connection with the case.  The network is 
believed to have moved nearly 2000 pounds of heroin into 
Vietnam between the years 2000 and 2003.  According to one 
deputy director in the Ho Chi Minh City Police, revenues of 
this "syndicate" exceeded the revenues of some Vietnamese 
provinces.  The trial is expected to begin by December 2004. 
 
3. (U) According to press articles, MPS and UNODC sources, 
the "syndicate" formed when drug criminals Nguyen Van Hai 
and Nguyen Dinh Hoanh met in prison in 1983 and reached its 
peak in terms of membership and activity in August 2002.  In 
June 2003, Hoanh was arrested at Lao Bao border crossing for 
transporting approximately 60 kilograms of heroin.  Hoanh 
and Hai worked together to smuggle heroin from Laos into 
Vietnam for consumption in Dong Nai Province and Ho Chi Minh 
City.  In addition to the Hoanh-Hai syndicate, Hai also set 
up his own network to bring drugs into the country via Tay 
Ninh Province, which sits between Ho Chi Minh City and the 
Cambodia border.  Between 2000 and 2003, according to 
various reports, the syndicate brought in 800 to 900 
kilograms of heroin.  MPS has started a formal investigation 
against 47 individuals, 20 of whom are still at large. 
 
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VIETNAM -- MORE DRUGS EVERY YEAR 
--------------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) In addition to traditional "hotspots" (a Vietnamese 
police term for an area of increased drug consumption), 
drugs can now be found in every corner of the country. 
During a conference to "share experiences in combating 
complicated hotspots" held in Haiphong on September 21, 
General Pham Van Duc, Deputy Director of the MPS General 
Department of Police, acknowledged "negative developments" 
in the country's drug situation.  However, he noted, the 
police had cracked down on 3,000 hotspots throughout Vietnam 
between 2001 and 2004, and opened 5,600 cases and seized 180 
kilograms of heroin during the first eight months of 2004. 
(Note:  This is a substantial increase over the same period 
last year, which saw an increase over the year before.  See 
reftel for more on 2004 anti-drug efforts by the GVN.  End 
note.) 
 
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COMMENT 
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5. (U) The GVN is facing a classic dilemma: the more success 
it has in uncovering drug trafficking, the more it learns 
about the scope of the problem.  Previously, the drug 
problem could be whitewashed with official propaganda about 
successful drug raids and effective prevention plans; as 
long as the drugs were invisible, the government could 
pretend they were not there.  Now, however, GVN anti-drug 
forces are having some successes - seizures are way up from 
previous years - and the information gained from these 
successes and reported in the press is shining an 
uncomfortable spotlight on the magnitude of the drug 
trafficking problem here.  MPS seems not to have figured out 
how to spin the recent seizures and arrests as a victory for 
law enforcement efforts rather than as proof of failure; 
instead, it has either provided strangely inaccurate 
information (such as press reports in June hailing a 21 
percent reduction in drug crimes) or kept quiet about drug 
statistics altogether.  In this context, General Duc's 
openness at the Haiphong meeting was an improvement.  Based 
on what we know and are continuing to learn about the extent 
of the drug problem here, it appears that the assistance we 
are providing - in the form of training for customs and 
border officials, and through UNODC to cover the main drug 
crossing routes into the country - is targeting the right 
geographical regions and strengthening GVN capacity in the 
areas it is most needed.  End Comment. 
MARINE