The Vietnam Boxing Federation (VBF) has recently held an extraordinary congress to handle the issue related to President Luu Tu Bao. For months, Mr. Tu Bao was not present in Vietnam and news was getting entangled in the labor cycle.
After leaving Vietnam to the United States in February 2025 to solve the family problem, Mr. Tu Bao lost contact with the members of the organization. His absence in the recent emergency meeting, despite being invited to attend online, caused many people to question the true situation of this leader.
Notably, while Mr. Tu Bao has not appeared for a long time, a man named “reservation” was confirmed to be arrested in California in April this year. He was accused of regarding transnational drug trafficking. The defendant went to the federal court in San Francisco on demand from Australia.
According to the record, “reservation” is said to be the head of an inter -national criminal organization, directly operating drug transport activities from Vietnam to Australia. During the period from 2016 to 2017, his group transported 178 kg of cocaine into the country of kangaroo. As of April 2025, the Melbourne court was still ordering the arrest of this object.
Through the legal records in the US, Australian investigators said they seized many messages and images related to drug trafficking activities, including “reservation” using encrypted applications such as SkyECC or CYPHER ELITE to communicate. Not only that, he also used many different nicknames to avoid the detection of the police, even contacting Australia's underground secret agent.
At the trial in San Francisco, lawyer Jay Rorty affirmed that the client was an American citizen, arrested as soon as he entered the funeral. He said that there was no clear evidence to prove his client committed a crime, apart from the allegations from Australia. Judge Thomas Hixson decided to detain “reservation” and expected to have a hearing on August 28, 2025. Meanwhile, the extradition schedule to Australia was arranged on January 29, 2026, after the US received a sufficient application from the Australian government. If extradited and convicted here, “reservation” may face life imprisonment.
Mr. Tu Bao was born in 1976, who has more than 10 years with the movement of boxing development and martial arts in Vietnam. He used to hold the position of Chairman of VBF II from October 15, 2023. In addition, he also held the position of Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City General Vo League (HMMAF) and CEO of Saigon Sports Club (SSC). This is one of the oldest professional boxing clubs in Vietnam. In 2023, Mr. Tu Bao was also awarded the Honorians by the WBA Asian Boxing Association for the contributions to the national sports movement.
According to the conclusion from VBF, while the issue related to Mr. Tu Bao has not been clarified, the organization agreed to authorize Vice Chairman Nguyen Duy Hung. VBF is responsible for ensuring the organization of competition for provincial, cities and branches in the tournaments in the national competition system, ensuring the establishment and international competition of the Vietnamese team.