Drug trafficking right at the construction site
At the end of April 2026, the People's Court of Region 2 of Quang Ninh province sentenced 3 defendants to 45 years and 6 months in prison for a drug trafficking and storage ring at workers' camps in Amata Industrial Park, Hiep Hoa ward. The ringleader Trinh Van Thuan took advantage of his position as a worker manager to collude in selling heroin right at the construction site. The drugs were divided into small "tasses", sold to workers before and after work shifts.
Notably, the entire amount of money to buy drugs was recorded by the subjects to be directly deducted from the wages of workers with a total amount of illegal profits of more than 110 million VND. The Trial Panel determined that this is a particularly dangerous act, infringing on social order, seriously affecting the labor environment in the industrial park.
In Bac Ninh, through surprise inspections of more than 1,400 seasonal workers from the beginning of 2026, 52 drug-positive cases were detected. In May 2026 alone, the number of cases detected skyrocketed to 34 cases at accommodation establishments and camps around industrial parks.
Diversifying drug prevention and control models among workers
On September 4, Mao Dien commune, Hai Phong launched the "No Drug Boarding House" model at the boarding house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Chuyen, Tan Phuc village. According to Mr. Tran Xuan Kieu - Chairman of Mao Dien Commune People's Committee, the locality has many industrial zones and clusters, concentrating many workers coming to work and reside. The increasing demand for renting boarding houses raises the requirement to strengthen residence management, ensure security, order and prevent and combat social evils.
Previously, the "No Drug Boarding House" model was also implemented in Quyet Tam village, Lai Khe commune.
Implementing this model, the Commune Police force plays a core role, coordinating with village leaders and landlords to strengthen residence management, inspect temporary residence, temporary absence, and promptly detect and handle violations of the law on drugs.
In Tran Nhan Tong ward, Hai Phong, the "No Drug Enterprise" model has been implemented at 3 units: Hoang Tien Joint Stock Company (Hoang Gian Moi residential area), Mipak Joint Stock Company (Dai Bat residential area) and Sao Do Shoe Joint Stock Company (Dai Bo residential area).
Participating in the model, representatives of businesses signed commitments not to let drug evils invade the working environment; coordinated to propagate and mobilize officials, employees, and workers to comply with the law and regulations on drug prevention and control, and build a safe working environment.
Integrating propaganda into internal training programs
At Phuong Dong Export Food Processing Co., Ltd. (Can Tho City), the content of drug prevention and control and social evils is often integrated into the unit's annual internal training programs, along with content on labor safety and other related issues.
Ms. Nguyen Huynh Tu Thanh - Vice Chairwoman of the Company's Trade Union - said that businesses often organize internal training once a year. Training sessions are divided into workshops, instead of being organized at the same time to avoid affecting production progress.
For issues notified by departments, boards, and branches, the company and the grassroots trade union receive and quickly deploy information for employees to grasp in a timely manner," Ms. Thanh said.
According to Ms. Thanh, after receiving, workers also actively share with each other. During lunch breaks or meal times, workers often exchange information about work as well as information announced by the company.
In particular, for some older workers who may not update information in time through internal channels, those who have accessed the information will share it with colleagues. The content discussed is not only related to work but also to issues of preventing fraud and social evils.
Most workers go to work for the purpose of making a living, creating income, so they are aware that issues related to social evils can directly affect their work and life. Therefore, they are increasingly aware of protecting themselves. When suspicious issues arise in the workshop, workers proactively report to the team leader" - Ms. Thanh shared.
Not only relying on propaganda channels at work, a part of workers said that they have proactively spent time learning information about the security and order situation and drug and social evils prevention and control.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Thuan - a worker at Tra Noc Industrial Park (Can Tho City) - considers proactively learning about prevention and combat of social evils as the best way to protect his family and his main source of income.
Working as a worker is hard, income is spent on taking care of the family, so just getting involved in drugs or social evils is considered a loss. Currently, seduction tricks are very sophisticated, if you are not knowledgeable, it is very easy to fall into the trap. Therefore, in addition to trade union meetings, I regularly go to official newspapers and social networks of the local police to see crime warnings" - Mr. Thuan expressed.
Trade union accompanies drug prevention and control
Identifying drugs as a direct threat to the health and income of workers and the sustainable development of businesses, the VGCL has set a specific goal: By 2030, more than 1 million turns of officials, union members, and workers will be propagated and disseminated knowledge about drug prevention and control. Along with the involvement of local authorities, on September 18-19, in Hai Phong, the VGCL coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to organize a communication program, art exchange, and seminar on drug prevention and control for workers in industrial parks.
According to Standing Vice President of the VGCL Ngo Duy Hieu, the program "Vietnamese Workers Say No to Drugs - Million Hearts, One Determination" aims to raise awareness, responsibility and self-prevention awareness of drugs among workers and laborers; contributing to protecting human resources, ensuring security and order in industrial parks and export processing zones. The program combines drug prevention and control propaganda with activities to care for the lives of union members and laborers through welfare booths, providing quality products and services at preferential prices, expected to directly and indirectly reach 30,000 - 50,000 workers and laborers. From there, towards building a safe working environment, improving self-prevention capacity, contributing to pushing back drug evils among workers and laborers.
