A KEY fugitive wanted in connection with the seizure of 810kg of methamphetamine worth more than K20 billion (US$892,180) in Myanmar has been arrested in Vietnam and handed over to Myanmar authorities following a regional manhunt.
Wai Tun, 48, the owner of William Tun Company, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept 1 after authorities traced his movements across Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.
The case began on July 6, when 500kg of methamphetamine was seized along with two suspects near Taungzinaye Village in Leway Township. Further investigations led to the seizure of another 310kg aboard the Mibamyittar motorboat docked along the Yangon River in Dala, with 10 suspects also arrested.
MITV reported authorities saying the 810kg of methamphetamine had been transported and trafficked by sea.
Wai Tun, a resident of Nyaungbintha Village in Hmawbi Township, reportedly left Myanmar for Malaysia through Yangon International Airport on June 25.
Myanmar’s Anti-Drug Police Force subsequently shared information on him with the Royal Malaysia Police. Malaysian authorities, while monitoring his movements, learned that he had departed from a ferry port in Malaysia on July 8 and passed the information to drug-control authorities in Singapore and Indonesia.
Authorities later established that Wai Tun had travelled by air from Singapore to Vietnam on Aug 9, prompting the information to be shared with Vietnamese authorities.
He was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept 1 as a fugitive wanted for drug-related offences.
At 10pm Vietnam time on Sept 24, a delegation led by Pol Sr Col Hoang Tam Hieu, deputy secretary-general of the Anti-Drug Police Force under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, handed Wai Tun over to officials from the Myanmar Embassy in Vietnam and a Myanmar Police Force delegation led by Police Brig-Gen Zaw Lin, deputy commander of the Anti-Drug Police Force, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.
The Myanmar government has designated drug control and suppression as a national duty and priority, according to a statement, adding that it was intensifying efforts to prevent and suppress drug-related offences, identify and arrest those behind such crimes and work with international partners to track down fugitives.
The Anti-Drug Police Force said Wai Tun’s arrest was made possible through timely information-sharing and cooperation among Asean member states amid intensified regional efforts to combat drug trafficking.
It said Myanmar had handed over 11 fugitives wanted for drug-related offences to Thailand and one fugitive wanted for a drug-related offence to Indonesia in 2026.
The statement said such cooperation strengthened ties among Asean member states while making drug-control efforts more effective by enabling countries to jointly identify, arrest and hand over fugitives involved in transnational drug crimes. - September 27, 2026
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