Vietnam Sentences 4 Men to Death for Transporting Heroin

A public service announcement by the Cam Chau Ward People's Committee reads
A public service announcement by the Cam Chau Ward People's Committee reads "Youth, please stay away from drugs" in Vietnamese in 2014 in Vietnam. Photo: lightwrite / Flickr

HANOI — A court in Hanoi has sentenced four men to death for transporting heroin.

State-run Capital Police newspaper says ring leader Tran Thanh Dong, 26 , and three ring members were convicted at the one-day trial Monday of transporting more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of heroin from late 2015 until the ring was busted in April last year.

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Court officials were not available for comment Tuesday.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Possessing, trafficking or transporting as little as 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of heroin or 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of opium is punishable by death.

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The number of executions by lethal injection is a state secret in Vietnam, but many of the death sentences issued in the country are drug-related.