"A steel shield" for a drug-free Ho Chi Minh City.

In the final days of May 2026, the crackdown on drug-related crimes in Ho Chi Minh City intensified. From a single drug user, the Ho Chi Minh City Police investigated and questioned 173 individuals, prosecuting 150 defendants. Shortly before that, also starting from a small link – a drug addict and illegal drug dealer – the Drug Crime Investigation Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Police dismantled a large-scale drug trafficking ring, prosecuting 140 individuals.

The success of these cases demonstrates the courage, high professional competence, and unwavering commitment of the police force in combating crime, while also affirming the strong determination of the Ho Chi Minh City Police in the fight against drug crime. These figures also show a systematic approach to crime: starting from a small link, the police will patiently investigate the entire network, leaving no one undetected and not stopping at the "symptoms."

For a long time, drugs have been a particularly dangerous source of crime and social evils, causing insecurity and threatening the peace of every family. During the peak period of "cleaning up the area," the Drug Crime Investigation Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Police clearly defined its motto: "Don't just target the middle part, arrest the entire network, the ringleaders, and prosecute even the users." In the two aforementioned cases, with sharp investigative skills, the police force successfully apprehended the ringleaders, severing many networks and more than 30 criminal branches.

This decisive action was implemented synchronously from the city level down to the grassroots police force. Specifically, police in wards and communes simultaneously launched operations to dismantle numerous drug trafficking rings. On the waterways, functional forces coordinated inspections of cargo boats and barges at several ports and on the Saigon River. Alongside cutting off the supply source, inspection and screening of drug users at businesses, docks, and residential areas were also intensified. This comprehensive approach reflects a new mindset in the fight against drug trafficking: not only targeting the supply but also tightening control over the demand, creating a pincer movement that leaves criminals with no room to operate.

However, in practice, drug-related crime is very difficult to eradicate completely and always lurks, waiting for opportunities to infiltrate daily life. To maintain achievements and work towards the goal of building a drug-free city, we cannot rely solely on specialized forces. This fight requires the involvement of the entire political system, each neighborhood, and especially each family.

Each family must be the first "fortress." Parents need to increase their attention, listen to, and detect early signs of abnormal behavior in their children; they must not be indifferent or lax in their supervision, creating opportunities for bad people to lure and entice teenagers into drug use. Neighborhood groups, women's associations, and youth unions – valuable "eyes and ears" at the grassroots level – also play an important role in detecting and promptly reporting suspicious cases to the authorities. When the access to each family is tightened, when the community is more vigilant, when the grassroots level has a firm grasp of the area, and when each citizen does not stand idly by, the environment in which drugs thrive will gradually disappear.

The consecutive achievements in recent times have strengthened the people's trust in the security and order protection forces. This trust also forms the basis for leveraging the combined strength of the entire political system in the future. Drug crime can only be truly pushed back when the resolute efforts of the specialized "steel shield" are bolstered by the joint efforts of each family and each residential area. And when the area is cleaned up, Ho Chi Minh City will have a more solid foundation for safe and sustainable development; moving towards becoming a civilized, modern, compassionate, and livable city.

KIEU PHONG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/la-chan-thep-vi-tphcm-khong-ma-tuy-post854913.html