Four flight attendants working for Vietnam Airlines were arrested in Ho Chi Minh’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) after customs officers found illicit drugs stored in toothpaste tubes they were carrying in their baggage.
The four flight attendants were on a flight duty (VN 10) from Paris’ Charles de Gaulles Airport (CDG) to SGN airport on March 16, 2023 when customs performed a security clearance check.
Customs officers found 11.4 kilograms of ecstasy and narcotics kept in 112 pieces of toothpaste tubes.
Image source: Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, published on tuoitrenews.vn
Radio Free Asia identified the flight attendants as Dang Phuong Van, Tran Thi Thu Nga, Vo Tu Quynh and purser Nguyen Thanh Thuy.
The flight attendants said that someone in France paid them more than VND 10 million ($424), to help transport “some goods” to Vietnam.
“Vietnam Airlines has received information about the detention of 4 flight attendants on flight number VN10 due to suspicion of carrying banned substances in the luggage,” Vietnam Airlines spokesperson Dang Tuan said in a statement seen by The Star.
“Currently, they have been suspended from duty to help with the investigation,” the airline spokesperson added.
Under Vietnamese law, the production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or cocaine, or 300 grams of methamphetamine, can carry the death penalty.
The airline is currently cooperating with local police on the case investigation.