Eleven on trial for drug trafficking in Vietnam, including two overseas Vietnamese
HANOI - Eleven people, including an American and Japanese, went on trial Monday in Ho Chi Minh City for allegedly trafficking a large amount of heroin from Vietnam to Japan, a court official said.
The defendants, including Vietnamese-Japanese Ngo Xuan Phuong and Vietnamese-American Nguyen Nhu Hung, otherwise known as John Nguyen, have been charged with trafficking 79 pounds of heroin, 110 pounds of marijuana, 33 pounds of methamphetamine from Vietnam to Japan between 1993 until their arrests in 2002, the court official said on condition of anonymity. Local media have reported that 10 defendants could face death, if convicted. The court official was unclear about the possible sentences, and the judge was unavailable for comment.
An official at the American Embassy in Hanoi said he was unaware of the case. The Japanese Embassy did not immediately return calls Monday.According to the charges, the drugs were bought in from neighboring Laos and Cambodia and shipped to Japan through Vietnamese sailors and flight attendants.The trial is expected to last until Thursday.
In Vietnam, possessing, trading or trafficking 1.32 pounds of heroin or 44 pounds of opium is punishable by life in prison or death.Dozens of people have been sentenced to face firing squads in Vietnam each year for drug-related charges.
The Associated Press - February 23, 2004
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