HANOI, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Vietnam sentenced nine people to death and two others to life in prison on Monday for their involvement in a cross-border drug trafficking ring, state media reported.
The Southeast Asian country has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, and is notoriously secretive about its executions.
At the end of a three-day trial, a court in central Nghe An province sentenced ringleader Tran Thi Mau, 56, and eight accomplices to death. Two others in the same drug trafficking ring were given life sentences, VNExpress newsite reported.
According to reports, Mau and her ring members bought the drugs from neighbouring Laos, hiring locals to illegally transport the goods to Vietnam through the jungle.
The gang successfully trafficked 105 kilograms (230 pounds) of meth, heroin and synthetic drugs between late 2021 and their arrests in May 2022.
The drugs were transported during the night to avoid police detection, reports said.
Vietnamese courts routinely hand out death sentences for drug convictions, and the country is a leading executioner globally, according to Amnesty International.
In November, a court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced to death 18 drug traffickers, including two South Koreans and a Chinese national.