Police in Vietnam have seized 324,000 used condoms which were being recycled to be sold again.

Paid workers were tasked with cleaning the rubber contraceptives before reshaping them with wooden dildos.

The condoms were then repackaged before being resold to the public and thousands had already been sent out to the unsuspecting public.

The operation was being run from a warehouse in the province of Binh Duong in the south of Vietnam

Police raided the warehouse on Saturday and seized the used prophylactics.

Pham Thi Thanh Ngoc, 33, the owner of the warehouse, was arrested and claimed she had been receiving the condoms once a month from an unknown person.

The owner allegedly cleaned, dried and sorted the condoms before selling them again to the public as if they were new.

The condoms were confiscated as evidence but will be disposed of immediately because they are considered dangerous medical waste.

A government official said: ‘Condoms are classified as medical items, so we will take a look at the several laws that the owner has broken.’

Used condoms

It is not known how many condoms had already been sold but the load found by police weighed 360kg.

Local reports said they were being supplied to hotels and market stalls near the warehouse.