Roofies, also known as the date-rape drug, have been widely available on HCM City streets for some time.
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| Aphrodisiac sold openly on Chau Van Liem |
On the street corner of Nguyen Trai and Chau Van Liem Street in District 5, dealers in the drug often directly approach passers-by offering a variety of types, prices are usually dependent on where they were supposedly manufactored.
One dealer, while trying to make a deal with a reporter, admitted that he had been selling for years and showed how to use the drug. "You just mix it with wine or beer and make sure the girl drinks it. Don't use fruit juice though. It should only take about 10 minutes to make," he said.
The average price is around VND60,000. Some of the sellers are cigarette vendors just making money on the side, while others advertise the product with colourful boxes.
At the Mien Tay Bus Station, customers will be directed to small souvenir vendors who are more discrete. After leading the reporter to a corner, the seller said, "This one is from the US and, trust me, it works. I'll sell it for VND200,000." The price later came down to VND50,000.
Lawyer Nguyen Thanh Cong from HCM City said currently, there is no actual law in place that bans the selling of these drugs; even the legal definitions are unclear here. But there is no doubt that they must be controlled. As a result of current law, he said, only smugglers are prosecuted. Those who sell can only be charged for not producing an invoice.
Chairwoman of District 5 People's Committee Huynh Thi Thao said, "We often carry out inspections and have dealt with several cases. We'll collaborate with the police force to inspect the street corner of Nguyen Trai and Chau Van Liem as soon as possible."
Last year, Tran Vinh Quang, a 16-year old boy, was sentenced to 16 years by HCM City Court for murder and robbery.
He had attracted a number of women to his house and tried to use the drug on them. When one woman resisted Quang killed her.