Vietnamese fishermen find 81 kilos of cannabis mysteriously floating

Four bags and a suitcase were filled with an unexpected illicit catch

Rowan Dunne

Published

September 19, 2025

Fisherman near Ho Chi Minh City pulled up something unexpected and highly illegal in their country this month.

Floating in the water, they found four bags and a suitcase containing 81 kilograms of cannabis flower.

Alarmed by what they had discovered, they immediately turned it into the local Binh Chau Border Guard Station. Its origins remain a mystery and is currently under investigation by local authorities. Waterways near Saigon are not known to be popular drug trafficking routes.

News of the Sept. 2 incident was first detailed in a report from the popular local news outlet VnExpress 10 days later.

In Vietnam, marijuana is regarded as a narcotic that is equally as dangerous as other drugs like cocaine or heroin. The Asian nation has zero tolerance for possession, usage or trafficking.

Fines for possession of small quantities can range from US$100 to US$200 while more serious offences with larger amounts can potentially get a person seven years in prison or more. Like Singapore or Malaysia, large-scale trafficking could potentially result in a death sentence.

CBD oil is permitted under stringent regulations within Vietnam, but only if it is derived from industrial hemp plants with a THC concentration below 0.3 per cent. As of 2025, there is no domestic medical marijuana program of any kind.

Cannabis has been illegal in the country since the middle of the Vietnam War era in 1968 after U.S. military and diplomatic officials urged the government to do so.

Its prohibition was significantly influenced by the Americans wanting to stop its widespread recreational use at the time. During the war, getting pot was very cheap and approximately 25 per cent of U.S. soldiers used it frequently.

Beginning in 1969, the U.S. helped destroy thousands of acres of cannabis fields, particularly in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands. Weed was widely grown in rural Vietnam in the years prior.