Six get death penalty for drug offences in Vietnam
HANOI - A court in northern Vietnam has handed the death penalty to six people for trafficking nearly one tonne of heroin, a judicial official said Wednesday.
Eight other accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment while another eight were handed prison terms of up to 30 years following a 10-day court trial in Phu Tho province, the official said.
They were charged with trafficking 954 kilograms (about 2,100 pounds) of heroin and more than 300 kilograms of opium from neighbouring Laos to Vietnam between 1999 and 2004.
Officials said it was the largest amount of heroin detected in a case so far.
Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Possession of 300 grams (10.5 ounces) or more of heroin or more than 10 kilograms of opium carries a penalty of execution by firing squad.
So far this year at least 24 people have been executed and 77 have been sentenced to death in Vietnam.
Agence France Presse - July 27, 2005.
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