Vietnam arrests key fugitive in over-K20 billion ice (methamphetamine) seizure in Dala and transfers him to Myanmar

by · Eleven Media Group Co., Ltd

A key fugitive wanted in connection with the seizure of more than K20 billion worth of ice (methamphetamine) in Dala was arrested in Vietnam and handed over to Myanmar authorities at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

The case began on 6 July, when 500 kilograms of ice (methamphetamine) were seized along with two suspects near Taungzinaye Village in Leway Township. Further investigation led to the seizure of another 310 kilograms of ice aboard the Mibamyittar motorboat docked at the Yangon River bank in Dala, together with 10 suspects. A total of 810 kilograms of ice, worth more than K20 billion, had reportedly been transported and trafficked by sea.

The main suspect in the transnational drug trafficking operation was identified as 48-year-old Wai Tun, owner of William Tun Company and a resident of Nyaungbintha Village, Hmawbi Township. He reportedly left Myanmar for Malaysia via Yangon International Airport on 25 June. The Myanmar Police Force’s Anti-Drug Police Force shared information with the Royal Malaysia Police. While Malaysian authorities were monitoring him, they learned that he had departed from a ferry port in Malaysia on 8 July, prompting further information-sharing with the drug control authorities of Singapore and Indonesia.

Following the information exchange, authorities learned that Wai Tun had travelled by air from Singapore to Vietnam on 9 August and subsequently shared the information with Vietnamese authorities. He was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 1 September as a fugitive wanted for drug-related offences. At 10 pm Vietnam local time on 24 September, a delegation led by Pol. Sr. Col. Hoang Tam Hieu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Anti-Drug Police Force under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, handed Wai Tun over to officials from the Myanmar Embassy in Vietnam and a Myanmar Police Force delegation led by Police Brigadier-General Zaw Lin, Deputy Commander of the Anti-Drug Police Force, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

The government has designated drug control and suppression as a national duty and a priority task, and is stepping up efforts to prevent and suppress drug-related offences, identify and arrest those behind such crimes, and work with international partner organizations to track down and arrest related fugitives, according to the statement.

The Anti-Drug Police Force said that Wai Tun’s arrest was made possible through timely information-sharing and cooperation among ASEAN member states amid intensified regional cooperation in drug control. It also said that, in 2026, Myanmar had handed over 11 fugitives wanted for drug-related offences to Thailand and one fugitive wanted for a drug-related offence to Indonesia. Such cooperation not only strengthens friendship among ASEAN member states but also makes drug-control efforts more effective by enabling countries to jointly identify, arrest and hand over fugitives involved in transnational drug crimes, the statement said.

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