Vietnam Confiscates Over 300,000 Recycled Condoms for Sale
A raid at a warehouse led to the arrest of a woman who said she had been paid by the pound to recycle the prophylactics.
HANOI, Vietnam — The police in Vietnam have seized more than 300,000 used condoms that had been boiled, dried and put up for sale in a southern province.
Officers who raided a warehouse in the province of Binh Duong on Saturday found the recycled condoms in bags weighing almost 800 pounds, the state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
Footage broadcast by the state-owned Vietnam Television showed thousands of prophylactics spilling out of bags on the floor. It was unclear what led to the police raid, but news reports said officers had received a tip from a local resident.
The police arrested a woman in connection with the operation, Pham Thi Thanh Ngoc, who told the authorities that she had received a monthly delivery from an unknown person and had been paid the equivalent of 17 cents for about every two pounds she recycled, local news outlets reported.
She told the police that the condoms had been recycled through a process of boiling, drying and reshaping them using a wooden prosthesis.
