Eight get death for smuggling heroin

They include Nguyen Quoc Hung (Thai Binh province), Nghiem Cong Dung and Nguyen Van Tinh (Hanoi), Lo Van Hoan (Son La province), Dam Viet Thang, Luc Van Thuong, Loc Minh Duc and Dam Ngoc Giang (Lang Son province).

Nguyen Quoc Hung was also found guilty of illegal possession of weapons.     

Three others, namely Dang Minh Chau, Vi Van Tuan, and Hoang Thi Lien, from Lang Son province, were given life sentences for drug dealing.

Nguyen Hoang Quan from Can Tho city received 18 months in prison for illegally possessing weapons while Huynh Kim Thu from Hanoi faced a 12-month suspended prison sentence for not reporting crimes.

According to the court, the Police Department for Drug Crime Investigation under the Ministry of Public Security along with the Vietnam Coast Guard Command and police from Hoa Binh and Hanoi, arrested six people for trafficking 170 bricks of heroin hidden in a blue gas cylinder in July 2015.

The police also discovered two pink industrial gas cylinders, containing 320 heroin packages while raiding Hung’s rented house in Hoai Duc district, Hanoi.

Expanding the investigation, the police uncovered a nationwide drug ring.

From 2004 to 2015, the defendants traded 1,182 bricks of heroin, 568 of which were seized by the police. They also used weapons to resist arrest.

Among the 13 defendants, Dang Minh Chau was identified as the ringleader, involved in the illegal trade of 862 bricks of heroin weighing more than 303kg.

The death penalty was considered in Chau’s case, but the court sentenced her to life in jail as she is raising young children.

According to Vietnamese law, the death penalty is applied in Vietnam in cases of trafficking 100 grams of heroin or more.