Source: Reuters Pubdate: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 VIETNAM SAYS FACES INCREASING NARCOTICS WOES HANOI, Vietnam (Reuters) - Drug offences revolving around heroin are mounting in Vietnam and police drives against the narcotics trade remain burdened by inadequate laws and facilities, the country's anti-drugs chief said. "The size of the drug trafficking rings are becoming larger," Vu Hung Vuong, head of the national police anti-drug squad, told the official Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in an interview published Thursday. "It's even more dangerous when they (traffickers) have connections with degraded elements in state offices and law-protection agencies," he added. Vuong said drug abuse was growing among young people, who accounted for 70% of 132,000 heroin addicts in the communist-ruled country. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake