Vietnam executes six people for drug trafficking
HANOI - Vietnam has executed six people for trafficking heroin in from Cambodia, an official said Tuesday. The five men went before firing squads Monday in southern An Giang province, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, a provincial People's Court official said on condition of anonymity.
Ring leader Phung Duc Thinh, 34, and his five associates Ha Minh Trung, 31; Le Duc Thang, 39; Tran Xuan An, 32; and Nguyen Huynh Hung and Vo Van Hung, both 44, were condemned to death after they were convicted of trafficking 33 kilograms (73 pounds) of heroin and 1,000 tablets of Ecstasy between June 1998 and November 2000, he said. The case was uncovered when they were caught transporting 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) of heroin in a car, the official said.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws where possessing, trading or trafficking more than 600 grams (1.3 pounds) of heroin or 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of opium is punishable by death. The communist country is considering reducing the number of capital offenses and is seeking an alternative to the manned firing squad, possibly replacing it with a mechanized gun that doesn't require a person to squeeze the trigger.
The Associated Press - December 7, 2004
|