Six sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking
HANOI - A court in Vietnam sentenced six people including two women to death for trafficking drugs from neighbouring Laos, state media has said.
Twelve defendants received life imprisonment while five others were given prison terms of between seven and 20 years, after a one-week trial in Hanoi, the communist party's daily newspaper Nhan Dan said.
They were found guilty of trafficking more than 16 kilograms (35 pounds) of heroin and 3.5 kilograms of opium, from Laos to Hanoi via the northwestern province of Son La, from 1996 to 2001.
Vietnam usually imposes the death penalty on those caught with more than 600 grammes of heroin or over 20 kilogrammes of opium.
Last year at least 122 people were sentenced to death in Vietnam, mostly for drug trafficking, and 49 were executed, according to information compiled from official media reports.
Agence France Presse - December 15, 2006.
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