Hanoi - Police in northern Vietnam have arrested a Laotian man caught with more than 300 kilograms of methamphetamine (commonly known as tik in South Africa) in one of the largest meth seizures ever recorded in the country, authorities announced on Tuesday.
Police arrested Xeng Vang, 23, in Quang Binh province's Le Thuy district on Saturday, one day after he fled from a traffic stop after attempting to bribe the officers who pulled him over for speeding, police said in a statement.
Upon inspecting the car, police found 308.6 kilograms of meth stored in 300 nylon bags. It was the largest drug bust recorded in Quang Binh province, with an estimated street price for the drugs in the millions of dollars.
Although Xeng managed to escape into a forest along with two suspected Vietnamese accomplices, police tracked him down the next morning. He admitted to being paid 10 000 dollars to transport the drugs from Vietnam's Ha Tinh city to Da Nang. The other two suspects are still at large.
In Vietnam, those caught smuggling at least 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.