Hanoi

Hanoi’s New Century busted: 1,160 detained, drugs found Nearly 500 armed police officers Saturday raided the New Century Club in Hanoi, northern Vietnam’s hippest nightclub, detaining 1,163 people, including foreigners, on suspicion of drug use and distribution. The sting was a classified operation by the central Ministry of Public Security’s General Police Department. Even the Hanoi police force knew nothing about it. At 1am, the officers laid siege to the disco at No 10 Trang Thi Street in downtown Hanoi and found over a thousand people, mostly from 17 to 24 years old, dancing frenziedly to strong music. Three were caught red-handed with drugs. Some tried to run away but were caught outside by waiting policemen. Some were caught trying to throw away ecstasy pills – a kind of illegal drug mainly used by dancers – and destroying incriminating evidence. Over 200 personal pouches containing heroin, ecstasy pills and other drugs were seized at the site. Over the next 4 hours, 1,163 people were taken to various sites for questioning and drug tests. Prominent singers, actresses, and businessmen were among the group. Over 200 tested positive to using drugs. But by 7.30 pm, all had been released except 20 people who are still detained on the suspicion of drug distributing. Though the club owner Nguyen Dai Duong was not present, he was detained later. A venue for the wealthy and chic, New Century is one of the biggest and most expensive nightclubs in Vietnam. It has been fined twice in the past for staying open too late and violating noise regulations. Similarly, but on smaller scale, local Ho Chi Minh City police Saturday burst into the MGM Saigon, one of the largest and most rambunctious cafes in the city, and detained over 100 youths, some as young as 14 on suspicion of drug use. This all is part of a recent campaign to intensify the fight against crime and drugs. Over the last dozen days, police nationwide arrested over 1,100 suspects and seized over 8.2 kg of heroin and 1,140 additional individual doses of heroin, not to mention the two latest operations. Friday, Duong Duc Hiep, a famous TV comedian popular for his gaunt feature, was caught in Hanoi carrying 0.18-grams of heroin. He confessed to being addicted for 5 months.