3 Vietnamese drug traffickers sentenced to death

HANOI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese court has sentenced three local people to death and another to life imprisonment for drug trafficking, according to local media on Tuesday.

The Hanoi People's Court on Monday gave the death penalty to two women named Vu Thi Thu Hoai, 47, and Vu Thi Hai Yen, 24, and a 40-year-old man named Le Trung Thanh, and life imprisonment to a 42-year-old woman named Pham Thi Hop, all from northern Hai Phong city, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Hop was the mastermind but received lighter sentence because she currently has a child under 36 months old.

In June 2017, Hoai and Yen were asked by Hop to transport synthetic drugs from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong. The duo were caught red-handed at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi with over 2.6 kg of drugs in their luggage.

Meanwhile, Thanh was involved in another drug deal, also initiated by Hop, which was carrying crystal meth from Cambodia to Vietnam in November 2017.

According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.