Chang Chun Ming (left) and others accused. — Photo tienphong.vn

KHÁNH HÒA — Vietnamese authorities have charged ten individuals for illegally producing 1.4 tonnes of ketamine in an illicit facility in the coastal city of Nha Trang, Khánh Hòa Province.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the group was led by Chang Chun Ming, a 51-year-old Taiwanese national who entered Việt Nam in 2021 under the guise of investing in ornamental fish farming.

He allegedly partnered with Phạm Thị Lệ Hân, 30, a local woman, and collaborated closely with Đoàn Văn Hùng, 42, a Vietnamese national from Khánh Hòa.

Among the accused are two Vietnamese siblings, Nguyễn Thị Phương Hà, 35, and Nguyễn Minh Sáng, 33, and several Chinese and Taiwanese nationals.

All have been charged with the illegal production of narcotic substances.

An investigation showed that Ming rented a 1,000sq.m plot near a cemetery in Vĩnh Lương Commune in late 2024. Security guards, surveillance cameras and dogs were deployed to monitor the area.

A second 300sq.m site located 3km away was also rented to store chemicals and equipment.

Ming reportedly hired two Chinese nationals and four Vietnamese workers to construct the facility. The operation was outfitted with industrial-scale equipment, including seven large-capacity reaction and cooling tanks, vacuum pumps, treatment machines to deal with any smells and water filtration systems.

Large-capacity reaction and cooling tanks in the facility. — Photo tienphong.vn

By early 2025, the facility had entered its first production phase, generating 1.8 tonnes of yellow powder, which was stored in 27 foam containers and kept in cold storage under the pretense of producing water treatment foam agents.

In the second phase, the suspects used gas stoves, filters and industrial pots to refine the yellow powder, producing a white powder later identified as high-purity ketamine. The substance was then transported to central Nha Trang for final processing.

On March 22, Vietnamese police raided the facility and detained 11 individuals — four Chinese, three Taiwanese, and four Vietnamese, seizing 1.4 tonnes of ketamine, along with 80 tonnes of chemicals used in the pre-production stage, the biggest haul of ketamine in Việt Nam.

No drugs have been sold yet.— VNS