June 16
VIETNAM:
5 more death sentences given to drug traffickers
A supreme court in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday upheld verdicts of death
penalty for Luu Cong Dung, 46; Ngo Xuan Phuong, 50; Dang Van Roi, 46; and
Tran Van Tinh, 50, who were involved in the largest ever transnational
drug trafficking ring operating in Viet Nam.
At the appeals trial, death sentences were also given to 5 other members
of the ring, namely Ngo Duc Minh (alias Minh Sut), 48; John Nguyen (alias
Nguyen Nhu Hung, a Vietnamese American), 47; Vu Hoang Oanh, 47; Pham Cong
Gian, 47; and Pham Huy Phong, 42. These defendants were handed sentences
from 20 years in jail to life imprisonment at the trial held in Ho Chi
Minh City on Feb. 24.
Tang Anh Tuan, 34, whose previous sentence was 20 years in prison, faced
life imprisoment and Vu Tien Truong's 9-year in prison sentence was
upheld.
These defendants' criminal activities date back to 1993 when Ngo Xuan
Phuong, who had settled in Japan, and Ngo Duc Minh, a smuggler in Hai
Phong, began trafficking drugs from Viet Nam to Japan.
The 11 defendants were arrested by the Tien Giang provincial police in May
2002 and charged with possession of 39 kilos of heroin, 50kg of marijuana,
15 kilos of methamphetamine and 6,000 ecstasy tablets.
Those who were involved in the ring included many flight attendants,
sailors and overseas Vietnamese.
(source: Vietnam News Agency)
