A video of a toddler smoking from a meth pipe in Vietnam has sparked widespread concern, leading to the arrest of the boy's mother and her boyfriend. Photo: Apolinar B. Fonseca / Getty Images
Vietnam police arrested a couple on Sunday for drug possession after allegedly allowing a three-year-old to smoke methamphetamine. Last week, videos of the toddler on social media—including one where he’s seen smoking from a meth pipe, wearing nothing but a diaper—sparked widespread concern in Vietnam about the child’s safety. Following a police report from the boy’s biological father on Friday, police launched an investigation into the child’s caretakers, who are his mother and her boyfriend. Ho Chi Minh City police arrested the couple at a house in the Cu Chi District, where they also found meth and drug paraphernalia, local media reported. Police are investigating the boy’s mother, Nguyen Thao Nguyen, detaining the 23-year-old on Sunday. Her 44-year-old boyfriend, Le Van Bam, is also being investigated for drug possession and child abuse. In other videos, Bam is seen threatening the boy with a hammer and pliers. When questioned by the police, the couple said that they had “only let the boy use meth once just for fun.”When presenting the incriminating videos to the police last week, the boy’s biological father, identified in local reports only as Tai, said they were likely filmed four to five months ago. Tai discovered the videos of his son recently when he logged into Nguyen’s Facebook account to sell items. Besides filing a police report, Tai also posted the videos on social media, hoping that public attention would help him to rescue his child, he told local media. As the videos garnered widespread anger, the Ho Chi Minh City Children's Rights Protection Association urged police on Saturday to investigate the case and find out if the boy was abused. Vietnam has some of the world’s harshest drug penalties, where drug possession may be punishable by life imprisonment. However, Vietnam is also a major trafficking hub for drugs coming out of the Golden Triangle, one of the world’s largest drug-producing areas across Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.Tai told police that he has two children with Nguyen, a five-year-old girl and the boy in the video. Two years ago, Nguyen left him, taking the children to live with Bam.Bam tested positive for drugs, while the toddler tested negative. The three-year-old is currently staying at a children’s hospital, where he’s reportedly in stable condition.Follow Koh Ewe on Twitter and Instagram.
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