Strong stench 'indicates' crystal meth extraction factory

Black smoke, a strong, unpleasant odor, and unusually high electricity and water usage… could be signs that a methamphetamine factory is operating.

In early 2012, Long An Provincial Police received information about a house with a yard of more than 3,000 square meters in Binh Loi Hamlet, Hoa Khanh Dong Commune, Duc Hoa District, with a closed fence and isolated area, occasionally emitting black smoke and an unpleasant stench. The house was often crowded with people, but they came and went secretly, and the owner had little contact with neighbors.

Faced with the above information, the police got involved and determined that the house was bought and built by Mr. Luc Kien and his wife from Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2011. The list of some of the homeowner's regular guests was "named" including: Luc Gia Khanh, Nguyen Minh Tam, Luu Anh Vien... They were suspected of coming here to secretly organize the production of some goods and then take them away immediately.

By many means, the detectives collected some remaining substances in packaging, bottles, plastic cans... from Mr. Luc Kien's house and three examinations showed that these were precursors and chemicals used to produce synthetic drugs.

Luk Jiaqing was sentenced to death in 2013.

The investigation determined that Khanh and Quy organized the whole family and relatives to produce crystal meth. The "factory" operated regularly on the weekends, and the finished products were sold in Ho Chi Minh City.

One day in mid-2012, in front of Luc Kien's house, the police restrained a person who had just arrived and broken into this "impregnable" villa. Luc Gia Khanh was caught red-handed when he had just finished the final steps of the production process. The evidence seized was more than 4 kg of crystal meth and nearly 10 kg of chemicals for extraction.

Investigators determined that Khanh's family bought more than 400 boxes of western medicine as raw materials, producing more than a ton of crystal meth in just over a year.

At the first instance trial in early 2013, the Long An Provincial People's Court sentenced Khanh to death, and the remaining 16 defendants to terms ranging from one year and six months to life in prison for the crimes of Illegally producing, storing, trading, and transporting narcotics and Concealing criminals.

According to the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department (C47, Ministry of Public Security), in Hanoi and mid-2012, a crystal meth production site at Vu Dinh Hai's apartment in Trung Hoa - Nhan Chinh apartment building was also discovered due to the strange, unpleasant smell of the discharged water source, like the smell of pesticides. During the raid, the police seized many plastic cans containing chemicals, cold medicine shells...

Hai and his accomplices confessed to being addicted to drugs while abroad and then learned the formula for producing synthetic drugs. Upon returning home, he and his friends cooperated to "open a factory".

Lieutenant Colonel Bui Duc Thiem (Deputy Head of Department 5, C47) said that through the special cases, it is shown that this type of crime usually only cooperates with relatives and family members. The raw materials for production are common and easy-to-collect precursors and chemicals such as iodine, hydrogen peroxide, acetone, acid... and modern medicines containing drug precursors.

During the production process, criminals often have to boil, cook, and distill with pots and pans on the stove, creating black smoke and wastewater with an unpleasant smell. The amount of electricity and water consumed increases abnormally.

When solving a case, the investigation agency must choose the right and unexpected time to catch the mastermind red-handed, directly involved in production and consumption; at the same time, investigate thoroughly to discover and arrest all participants./.

According to VNE