Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or over 2.5 kg of methamphetamine could face capital punishment. Production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of any other illegal substance is also punishable by death.
A Ha Tinh court Tuesday sentenced 2 people to death and another to life imprisonment for transporting 31 kg of methamphetamine.
The court found Thai Ngoc Hoang, 34, Phan Van Tinh, 27, and Nguyen Dinh Chinh, 26, guilty of transporting narcotics. While Hoang and Tinh received death sentences, Chinh was given a life sentence.
According to the indictment, Chinh was driving Tinh in a 5-seat car last June when they were stopped by police officers in Huong Khe District, which borders Laos and is a notorious location for drug smuggling.
However, Chinh stepped on the accelerator and sped away and the police gave chase. In Phuc Dong Commune, Tinh, sitting in the backseat, threw a backpack out of the car. In the backpack, police officers found 31 kg of meth hidden in tea packets.
Meanwhile, another group of police officers continued the chase and caught up with the traffickers after around 15 kilometers.
The duo were arrested and admitted to the police that they'd been hired by Hoang to transport the meth to the border area. They were paid VND10 million ($430) each.
Hoang was arrested later that month. He told the police that he was also hired by an acquaintance for VND100 million to receive the drugs and took them to the southern province of Binh Duong, which neighbors Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar and the world's second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.
The repeated seizure of huge amounts of narcotics has been happening despite Vietnam having some of the world’s toughest drug laws.
Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or over 2.5 kg of methamphetamine could face capital punishment.
Production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of any other illegal substance is also punishable by death.
Source: e.vnexpress.net, Staff, April 21, 2021
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