Lethal weapons on sale in Vietnam
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Electric rods, stun guns, rubber bullet guns, tear-gas grenades and other banned weapons can be bought either online or via traditional modes in Ho Chi Minh City.
From online advertisement “Electric guns imported from the US…,” found online, Tuoi Tre reporters phoned a trader named Minh who initially hesitated but some days later, on January 5, called back.
Minh told us to visit the website www.namvi... to select the weapons first.
The site displays the weapons listed under various categories including rubber bullet guns offered at VND25 million (US$1,250).
From the site, we selected an electric rod quoted at VND1 million (US$50) and a rubber bullet gun.
Minh later provided an ATM account number and told us to settle through that account for home delivery.
“Prestige is a first priority in business”, Minh said.
At another Internet address, a man claiming himself as Huy offered to sell an electric bludgeon for VND1.3 million (US$65), which he said was extremely powerful, and two electric guns with a killing range of 5 meters, and many tear-gas grenades.
When we made a call to the phone number provided as Huy’s number, no one answered but soon later we received a call from another number asking us to come to a location at the An Suong Overpass to discuss the deal.
In another contact, we met a man called himself as Phong at a café on Duong Quang Ham Street in Go Vap District on January 7. He offered to sell a used electric gun for VND5 million (US$250) with an advancement of VND500,000 (US$25).
One day later, at the Nhat Tao Market in District 10, when we asked traders there for electric rods and guns, they turned us down.
“How can we dare to trade in banned goods?”, they told Tuoi Tre.
However, as soon as your correspondent introduced himself as a client of a weapon broker in District 3, a trader said he could provide us with electric rods at an unlimited quantity a week later.
The weapons mostly originate from China, said the city police.
Crimes involving such weapons
As the weapons are easily obtainable, many crimes involving them have recently occurred in Ho Chi Minh City.
On December 21, 2010, Phan Hong Thai, residing in Binh Tan District, was abducted by some men demanding a ransom of VND600 million (US$30,000). The abductors used electric rods to beat him before he was rescued by the police.
One day later, in a scuffle at an eatery in Tan Son Nhi Ward, Tan Phu District, a person was beaten with an electric rod to unconsciousness and had to be hospitalized later.
On December 25, a motorbike robbery happened in Xuan Thoi Thuong Commune, Hoc Mon District. The victim was Nguyen Thien An, who had been beaten by four robbers with a rubber baton.
The same day, three robbers used an electric rod to threaten Nguyen Tran Hung on Long Phu Bridge in District 9 and then robbed his motorbike.
On December 26, a gang used an electric rod to attack Nguyen Quoc Viet and his girlfriend and robbed his motorbike on Do Van Day Street, Hoc Mon District.
Vietnam bans the unlicensed use, storage and trading of weapons including rubber rods, electric rods, electric sticks, electric gloves, tear-gas grenades; tear gas guns; asphyxiating, poison or anaesthetizing guns or sprayers; rubber or plastic bullet shooting guns; laser guns; nail-shooting guns; magnetic guns and other anti-personnel kinds.
