Vietnam police bust ring selling used condoms as new

The Vietnamese police have busted a criminal operation to recycled hundred of thousands of used condoms and sell them as new to unsuspecting customers.

Footage of the gruesome haul of contraband contraceptives in a warehouse in the southern province of Binh Duong was broadcast this week on state-owned Vietnam Television (VTV). It showed dozens of large bags containing the condoms scattered across the floor.

Police said the bags weighed over 360 kilograms (794 lbs), equivalent to 345,000 condoms, according to VTV.

"The warehouse owner said they had received a monthly input of used condoms from an unknown person,” state newspaper Tuoi Tre reported.

A woman detained during police raid said that the used prophylactics were first boiled in water then dried and reshaped on a wooden phallus before being repackaged and resold.

VTV said it was not clear how many of the recycled condoms had already been sold. The detained woman said she had received $0.17 for every kilogramme of recycled condoms she produced.

The alarming discovery is not the first recycling scandal this year with major health implications.

In March, a Thai police raid on a recycling factory found that used face masks were being repackaged in boxes to be sold as new. 

The operation in central Thailand’s Saraburi province was prompted by a tip off that the facility was exploiting a face mask shortage in Asia at the start of the global pandemic.

Officers found six workers sorting through the masks, ironing and refolding them to make them look fresh. They said they had received the stash from a dealer who had not revealed their origin.

The workers themselves were reportedly being paid a pittance, at about 3p per mask. They claimed they recycled around 300-400 masks day.