With a population of more than 14 million spread across a vast area, Ho Chi Minh City is now the most populous metropolis in the country and one of the largest urban centres in Southeast Asia. While the city enjoys significant potential for growth, ensuring public security and safety has become an increasingly pressing priority for both local government and the police force.
For peace of the people
Since its establishment, Task Force 363 of the Ho Chi Minh City Police, with the motto “Flexible – Proactive – Unexpected – Effective”, has carried out tens of thousands of patrols, particularly at night, to monitor, check and promptly handle urgent incidents. Task Force 363 patrol teams consist of criminal police, traffic police and mobile police.
In mid-August 2025, for example, Task Force 363, together with Phuoc Hai Commune Police, discovered and prevented a group of young people from organising an illegal street race, detaining 25 individuals, prosecuting 21, and seizing 20 modified motorbikes designed for high-speed racing. Areas and routes such as Pham Van Dong and Nguyen Van Linh - once “hotspots” of illegal racing - have since been brought under firm control.
In the first six months of 2025 alone, hundreds of security incidents and urgent cases were swiftly dealt with by Task Force 363. Le Dinh Canh, Party Cell Secretary of Quarter 7, Phuoc Long Ward, said: “Despite the heavy workload and the enlarged area under management following administrative consolidation, the efforts of the units have greatly strengthened public trust in security and order. We hope this spirit and determination will continue to be promoted.”
In the fight against drug crime, the city’s police have taken a tough and uncompromising approach. Drug trafficking rings have become increasingly sophisticated and violent, making the battle all the more fierce.
Lieutenant General Mai Hoang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police, noted that under Case VN10, since March 2023, investigators had dismantled 500 branches and sub-networks of criminal organisations across provinces and cities, seizing 600kg of drugs, prosecuting 2,063 individuals, and confiscating numerous weapons and related equipment.
Between 2020 and 2025, the anti-drug force also broke up many large-scale cases, arresting ringleaders and seizing huge quantities of narcotics. In 2024 alone, the city police investigated more than 3,400 cases, uncovering nearly 9,000 drug-related offenders.
Living up to the people’s trust
From 2020 to 2025, the image of Ho Chi Minh City’s police officers has been vividly portrayed, not only as one of the frontline forces during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also through their major achievements in maintaining public order, safety and cybercrime prevention.
In implementing the Government’s Project 06, the city’s police have introduced a series of groundbreaking administrative reforms, offering 124 online public services, topping all vertical agencies in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2024, citizen satisfaction with administrative services reached 100%. Thousands of officers and soldiers worked overtime to ensure the timely and high-quality processing of applications for citizens and businesses.
The police also regard the “All-People Movement to Protect National Security” as a long-term and sustainable foundation for the people’s security posture. This campaign has expanded effectively, with residents providing thousands of valuable tips on security and order for timely handling by authorities.
The Party Committee and Board of Directors of the city’s police have emphasised that safeguarding political security and social order must always be one step ahead. Units remain resolute under the motto “proactive from the outset, from afar, from the grassroots”, ensuring they are never passive or caught unprepared in any situation. A series of comprehensive and breakthrough solutions have been adopted to meet new requirements, including investment in and application of science, technology and artificial intelligence to build an ecosystem for managing security and order, while also enhancing the fight against cyber and hi-tech crime.
In a recent letter of commendation to the city’s police for their outstanding achievements in investigating hi-tech crime, Nguyen Van Duoc, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, stressed that in recent times, citizens have felt safe and secure in their communities. These results are thanks in no small part to the city’s police force. People’s lives have become more peaceful; the crime situation has seen a clear positive shift. Many cases have been solved swiftly, especially those related to hi-tech and street crime, thereby fostering public trust not only among city residents but nationwide, while also enhancing the city’s reputation in the eyes of international friends.
