Although a road stretch from Binh Phuoc Overpass to Linh Xuan crossroad near Ho Chi Minh City is only 4.5 km, there are nearly 150 motorbike repair shops there ready to serve and not to protect, trapping and taking flat tire victims on a long ride.
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| Vo Van Nghia and his father becomes the "nail trap" victims on National Highway 2A near Thu Duc market on February 2, 2011 Photo: Tuoi Tre |
‘Nail trap’ refers to a scam whereby thugs would scatter pointed objects on the road to cause flat tires and then charge passers-by exorbitant fees to fix them.
Specifically, more than 40 shops have sprung up along the National Highway 1A connecting Dai Nam tourism spot to My Phuoc town in Binh Duong province near Ho Chi Minh City.
Over half operate without a license. They are mostly owned by immigrants and jobless thugs from other provinces ready to do anything for money.
Since Tet holidays, small motorbike repair shops in this area have sprung like mushrooms.
100 meters away from the Ecolake crossroad in Binh Duong, a shop named Sau Be appears the busiest. This opens early, at 4:00 – 5:00 am.
Another unknown shop nearby also enjoys boom time.
However, shortly after local police arrested several in connection with the nail scam, these shops have inexplicably closed their doors.
According to locals, most shops on this road only major in changing flat tires or mending tubes.
Nguyen Thi Linh, a local, told Tuoi Tre one day she couldn’t start her motorbike’s engine but Sau Be shop refused to repair it.
However, they are eager to mend flat tubes at cut-throat prices, she complained.
Capitalizing on the profitable business, some coffee houses nearby have also added new motorbike services.
Now you can sip soft drinks while watching nails removed from your beloved bikes.
Queuing for hours to change flat tires
The trap not only appears in Binh Duong but has also spread to Ho Chi Minh City.
From Binh Phuoc to Song Than Overpass in Thu Duc district in the city, there are around 28 shops repairing motorbikes and cars.
On the opposite side, Tuoi Tre correspondents spotted 27 shops, including 5 for fixing automobiles.
In addition, the 1.2 km road-stretch from Song Than to Linh Trung Overpass boasts 43 such shops.
Most of them couldn’t provide a business license. The shop-owners just rent kiosks or private houses on the road to do ‘business’.
Around 11 am last Sunday, at the crossroad between To Ngoc Van Street and National Highway No 43 near Thu Duc Market, Tuoi Tre saw a man, a woman and a child walking under the baking sun in profuse sweat, eyes wide searching around.
It turned out their motorbike had just been pierced by steel ‘nails’.
They finally arrived at a shop named Duc Cuong near Thu Duc market but had to queue for a long time.
Within a short time from 11:00 am to 15:00 pm the same day, dozens of ‘wounded’ motorbikes one after another filed into this shop.
Rip-off prices
In the evening the same day, Tuoi Tre approached a motorbike repair shop located at No 876 on National Highway 1A, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District and found that within only one hour, there are up to 8 motorbikes fallen victim to the trap.
For each motorbike, two young men from this shop showed the victim a steely object with pointed ends and announced the tire needed a new tube costing VND70,000 (USD3.38) to VND80,000 (USD3.86) each, twice more expensive than normal.
But this shop majors in tubes and refuses to fix other defects.
Local people told Tuoi Tre the shop employees could not repair engines.
Nailing the thugs
Police in Binh Duong Province three days ago raided three motorbike repair shops, detaining 5 people involved in the scam and seizing nearly 300 home-made steel objects.
Among them is Pham Van Canh¸ 32, owner of the Thuan Phat shop.
Pham Van Canh, the nail thug
Canh was about to scatter more than 200 star-shaped ‘nails’ when he was caught red-handed.
Examining Canh’s shop, police seized 65 such metal objects.
Local said the shop charged their victims VND50,000-100,000 (USD2.41-USD4.83) for a new motorbike tube and VND20,000 (USD0.96) for mending a tube puncture, around 3 times higher than normal.