The police is facing difficulties in organising raids on bars and clubs because of rampant corruption within their own ranks.

The inside of 02 Gold Club

On April 18, the police in HCM City raided the 02 Gold Club and discovered some drugs on the premises along with sales of alcohol of unknown-origin and minor labour law infringements.

Early this year, the police also discovered drug dealing at the Diamond Club and Club 39 in District 1.

However, the police said that the information about their drug raids had been leaked. Whenever they attempted to make a raid, the bars or clubs would close.

The police were due to conduct a drug raid on two clubs on in District 2 on January 27 but the clubs suddenly closed due to surprise power outages.

An official in the inspection team said many bars owners had bribed the local authorities or hired out someone just to monitor the inspection team's activities. "But to know the schedule and the clubs that we would raid, they must have bribed someone in the team." he said.

In the crime-fighting review meeting on April 17, Colonel Phan Anh Minh, vice head of HCM City Police Department said though they fined and made records multiples times, many bars and clubs still violate the same rules.

Colonel Nguyen Phi Hung, deputy chief of the Anti-Crime Police General Department under the Ministry of Public Security said, "It's not difficult to eradicate underground crime organisations, but most of the information about the raids was leaked even before they were carried out."

Currently, the management of the country’s nightlife remains severely inconsistent. The police have proposed to the HCM City People's Committee to set age limits for entry to bars and night clubs. Bars employees would be asked to examine their customers' IDs and display signs prohibiting under age customers from buying alcohol.