Shuddering process of turning bamboo firewood into cancer medicine

COn the afternoon of April 9, a 6-person working group from the Hai Phong Department of Health "raided" and witnessed the production technology of fake cancer drugs and functional foods in An Duong district.

Hong An Phong Company Limited is located at the end of the canal, next to Trang Due Industrial Park, with only a small signboard "Vinaca Group - Hong An Phong Company Limited".

Inside, the factory was filled with dry bamboo and firewood of unknown type. Behind were sealed blue plastic barrels and dozens of sacks of coal. When the inspection team entered, there were more than 10 workers at the company.

The entire concrete road from the company leading to Trang Due Industrial Park is used to dry materials. The chopping of bamboo and firewood into small pieces and washing also takes place here.

Ms. Tran Minh H., who is washing bamboo here, said she is a local and came here to work as a day laborer. Her job is to clean the bamboo sticks and then stack them into piles.

Worker Nguyen Thi M. said: "This bamboo is chopped, crushed, and then brought into the furnace to burn into charcoal for people to grill meat."

All the bamboo is brought into the furnace to be burned into charcoal, cooled, impurities removed and then packed into sacks, each bag about 30kg.

At the time of inspection, the facility had dozens of sacks of coal piled up, covered in black dust outside.

Unable to present legal documents

According to Kien An District Police, every month, Hong An Phong Company, directed by Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, produces tons of charcoal from bamboo. From 1 ton of raw bamboo, the facility produces about 30kg of finished charcoal.

This amount of coal was transferred to a facility for processing and packaging cancer drugs, functional foods related to the nervous system, etc. located in the district.

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan could not present any legal documents related to the products being produced. The documents approving the cosmetic declaration issued by the Hai Phong Department of Health to the company were also not presented upon request.

In response to the inspection team's questions, Mr. Tuan only answered one thing: "I followed the authorization and direction of Vinaca."

Where is charcoal powder consumed?

On April 10, Kien An District Police said they had just coordinated with relevant agencies to inspect a functional food and cosmetic production facility owned by Ms. Dao Thi Chuc (residing in Ngoc Son Ward) and discovered that workers were pouring finely ground bamboo charcoal powder into capsule shells, packaging them for sale on the market to serve cancer patients.

Authorities determined that this is a facility that has a direct relationship with Hong An Phong company.

Products manufactured at this facility include: Vinaca Vi5 (874ml), Vinaca cancer CO3.2, Baby Vinaca Vi6, Vinaca Activated Carbon multi-purpose, Vinaca trace element (nasal drops), Vinaca multi-purpose and a number of other unlabeled powders and liquids.

At the time of inspection, Ms. Chuc could not present papers, documents and invoices proving the origin of the raw materials and goods.

According to authorities, Mr. Tuan did not produce cosmetics or pharmaceuticals but lent documents to Nguyen Xuan Thu, director of Vinaca LLC and Ms. Chuc's husband.

After lending the papers, Mr. Tuan took on the task of burning bamboo and firewood to get ash and grind it into fine powder to supply to Ms. Chuc.

Every month, Mr. Tuan supplies Ms. Chuc’s facility with 10 bags of ash, each weighing 30kg. From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Tuan received more than 200 million VND in wages.

Mr. Tuan also admitted the information to the inspection team. However, he said he only burned coal, crushed it, and then transferred it to the facility in Kien An. He did not know what they did there.

According to the investigation documents, Vinaca Company Limited’s products have been widely distributed in many provinces and cities across the country through its own system. These products are being sold online and in stores at prices ranging from several hundred thousand to several million VND per prescription.

Deputy Director of the Hai Phong City Department of Health Nguyen Tien Son confirmed to VietNamNet: The Department has issued a certificate of acceptance for the announcement of cosmetic products including: Vinaca Carbon multi-purpose; body odor remover; Vi3 cancer, Vi4 body odor remover; baby Vi6; Vi7 alertness for driving, studying under stress and fatigue to Hong An Phong Company Limited, headquartered in Hong Phong commune, An Duong district.

“However, Hong An Phong Company has not produced the products as registered on the license. On April 13, we will ask the company director to come to work and present legal documents as well as the purpose of producing bamboo charcoal as was caught red-handed. The authorities have discovered that Ms. Chuc's facility producing fake medicine and functional foods is an illegal facility. The fact that this facility borrowed the license of another unit will not be recognized by law,” Mr. Son affirmed.