Lykert Bevan Dean (left) and Rohde Reinart under custody. — Photo cand.com.vn

HCM CITY — The suspicions of two drivers have led to the arrest and prosecution of two South African nationals on drug-related charges, HCM City police announced on Thursday.

Lykert Bevan Dean, 37, is charged with illegal drug sales, while Rohde Reinart, 30, is accused of organising illicit drug use.

The case was unfolded on May 15, 2024, when the two drivers received delivery orders from an apartment at Vạn Đô Residence in District 4. The packages were to be delivered to Thủ Đức City and Bình Thạnh District.

Upon receiving the packages, they noticed suspicious signs and promptly reported their concerns to the police, who later discovered the two packages containing a total of 23.829 grams of cannabis.

Following the discovery, police searched apartment 14.10 in Vạn Đô Residence, where they found an additional 68.72 grams of cannabis.

Dean and Reinart, who were renting the apartment, were immediately arrested.

Investigations revealed that the two suspects had rented the apartment since August 2023. In September 2023, Dean allegedly purchased cannabis from an unidentified individual on Bùi Viện Street in District 1 for personal use.

Reinart later asked to buy some of the cannabis from Dean, who agreed and sold him approximately 5 grams on two occasions for VNĐ1 million (about $39) each time.

However, Reinart stopped buying from Dean after finding his prices higher than other drug dealers on Bùi Viện Street. Reinart then began purchasing cannabis directly from these dealers for personal use and for his girlfriend.

In addition to selling to Reinart, Dean allegedly sold 12 grams of cannabis to an American national, Le Dinh, also known as Nate, a 34-year-old English teacher who worked at the same school as Dean, for VNĐ2.6 million (approximately $102). — VNS