Vietnamese police have arrested five Nigerians in a probe into a smuggling ring suspected of trafficking heroin through this country from India to China, state media reported.
“The suspects, including five Nigerians and four Vietnamese, have apparently transported a significant amount of drugs by air from India to Ho Chi Minh City,” Vietnam News Agency reported late Wednesday.
Counter-narcotics officers had seized more than two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of heroin, it said.
The drug ring allegedly used Vietnamese women to transport the heroin from Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, to the capital Hanoi and then to neighbouring China, the agency said.
The investigation into the “large-scale trafficking ring” is continuing as police interview more Nigerians.
In communist Vietnam, people found guilty of possessing more than 600 grams of heroin are usually sentenced to death.