Vietnam hands death penalties to three drug traffickers
Hanoi - A court in southern Vietnam has sentenced three drug traffickers to death for smuggling and selling more than 50kg of heroin and synthetic drugs, state media reported June 18.
Communist Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world with courts routinely handing out death sentences for drug convictions.
After the one-day trial in Long An province, 35-year-old gang leader Pham Trung Hieu and his three accomplices were found guilty of trafficking.
Three were given the death penalty while one was jailed for life, VNExpress news site reported.
The three men and women had trafficked the drugs from Cambodia to distribute to retailers in Ho Chi Minh City and neighbouring provinces.
The ring was discovered transporting some of the drugs in April 2023. Trying to escape a police raid, their car hit a police official and two local residents.
Under Vietnamese law, anyone caught with more than 600g of heroin or more than 2.5kg of methamphetamine may face the death penalty.
Late in 2024, a Vietnamese court sentenced 27 people to death for trafficking 626kg of drugs from Cambodia into Vietnam.
Vietnam is close to the 'Golden Triangle' drug-producing region where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet, with Vietnamese police saying Ho Chi Minh City is increasingly becoming a hub for traffickers as transport infrastructure has improved in recent years. AFP
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