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2024.11.14Read RFA coverage of this topic in Vietnamese.
Police in Vietnam said on Thursday they had arrested three people including a well-known singer in connection with a drug bust last year when authorities found cocaine and other drugs packed in toothpaste tubes in the luggage of flight attendants arriving from France.
Police in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City identified the three as singer Chi Dan, whose real name they said was Nguyen Trung Hieu, model An Tay, or Andrea Aybar who police said was Spanish, and Nguyen Do Truc Phuong.
Police posted pictures of the three in handcuffs. Radio Free Asia was not able to determine if any of them had legal representation and was not immediately able to contact the Spanish embassy for comment.
In March last year, customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City found drugs in the baggage of four female flight attendants during a security check after they flew in from Paris.
They were found to be carrying 154 toothpaste tubes containing about 11 kilograms (18.5 lbs) of MDMA, commonly referred to as ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine.
The flight attendants said someone in France paid them more than 10 million dong, or about US$400, to help transport “some goods” to Vietnam. They said they were unaware of the narcotics and did not know the identity of the person who asked them to carry the toothpaste tubes.
A Vietnam Airlines representative said at the time the national flag carrier was working with relevant agencies on the case.
Police released all of the four flight attendants because of a lack of evidence, state media reported at the time.
Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn