Vietnamese police have arrested eight Chinese suspected of drug trafficking after seizing 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of methamphetamine worth up to $26 million.

The state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper says the alleged ring leader was arrested Wednesday when he received the drugs in Ho Chi Minh City from three Vietnamese accomplices who had transported them in a pickup truck from Dak Nong province on the Laos border. It says seven other Chinese were also arrested.

The newspaper says Huang set up a garment factory as a cover for drug trafficking. Authorities believe the drugs originated in Laos and were to be sent to Taiwan in cartons of garments.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Trafficking more than 100 grams of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine is punishable by death.