Who is responsible for giant heroin haul case?

The heroin haul, estimated at US$300 million, was hidden in empty stereo speakers loaded on an aeroplane transiting through HCM City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport on November 16.

The consignment was detected by Taiwan customs officers after the plane landed at Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei the following day.

Tran Ma Thong, deputy head of the HCM City Customs Department, told the press on December 2 Tan Son Nhat Airport’s customs officers had properly observed  the procedures required, as the consignment was classified as goods allowed to go through the Green Channel without  scanners.

Although the consignment was not scanned, it was still subject to security checks before being loaded onto the plane, he said.

Thong also explained sniffer dogs were not used in this case, saying “they are only used to detect key consignments on major routes”.

Do Xuan Toan, director of Tan Son Nhat Airport’s Aviation Security Centre, did not reveal any information as the case is under investigation.  

Thanh Nien news wire quoted an anonymous expert, saying Thong’s explanations were not satisfactory. He said hiding drugs in stereo speakers is the common trick drug traffickers often play on customs officers, and many drug trafficking rings have been burst on HCM City-Taipei route.

In 2007 Tan Son Nhat Airport’s customs officers confiscated more than 2.18kg of heroin kept inside two stereo speakers due to be transported to Taiwan.

A year later they seized a consignment of more than 800,000 Methamphetamine tablets hidden in 24 stereo speakers transported from Taiwan to HCM City.  

“Any consignments on this route should have been put under the microscope,” the anonymous expert said.