Twenty-nine people on trial for drug trafficking in Vietnam
HANOI - Vietnam opened its biggest ever heroin-trafficking trial Tuesday with 29 people accused of involvement in smuggling more than 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of the drug into the country, a court official said. The court in Ho Chi Minh City charged 28 of the defendants with drug trafficking, and they face the death penalty if convicted, the court official said on condition of anonymity. Another defendant was charged with illegal transportation of currency across borders and faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted, she said.
Authorities contend that the defendants are part of a drug-trafficking ring that smuggled 824 kilograms (1,813 pounds) of heroin into Vietnam from neighboring Laos and Cambodia from 1998 until their arrests in 2003, the official said. The trial Vietnam's biggest ever in terms of the amount of heroin involved - is scheduled to last two weeks, she said.
On Monday, a court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced six people to death for dealing heroin. The six, who were among 39 defendants in the case, were convicted of selling 2.8 kilograms (6 pounds) of heroin in Ho Chi Minh City between June 2001 until they were arrested nine months later. Five other defendants were given life sentence while the remaining 28 defendants were given jail terms ranging from three years to 20 years for the same charges.
In Vietnam, possessing, trading or trafficking 600 grams (1.3 pounds) of heroin or 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of opium are punishably by death. About 80 people were sentenced to death to Vietnam each year, many of them for drug-related offenses.
The Associated Press - January 11, 2005
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