It was past 10 at night, just as the roar of motorbike traffic on the street began to die down, when local police in Le Chan ward quietly moved in. Teaming up with the municipal immigration bureau, they had a clear target: a Chinese national named Chen Yihao. Born in 1991, he had been carrying a warrant for his arrest issued two years ago by public security authorities in Guangxi, China, on charges of goods smuggling.
The arrest went smoothly without a hitch, and all proper procedures were followed. Local police said the entire operation went off without a problem, and they took the man in without much trouble. Ha Phong police are now wrapping up the paperwork and getting ready to hand him back to the Chinese side in line with standard procedures and international agreements.
To be fair, Ha Phong draws a mixed crowd of expats, with plenty of foreigners running small shops and renting apartments down the alleys. On any given night, people are just sitting by the roadside having fresh beer and rice noodles—who would have thought the person at the next table might be wanted on an international warrant?
