VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City People’s Court yesterday afternoon (Aug 23) sentenced two persons to death and six to life imprisonment for drug trafficking.

The defendants in court. Two people were sentenced to death and six were sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking. — Photo news.zing.vn

The death penalty was handed down to Tran Tuan An, 29, from Ca Mau Province, and Le Nguyen Hoang Anh, 30, from HCM City.

Cao Tri Trung, Truong Thi Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Thanh Thuy and Tran Thi Thuy Linh, besides Tang Thanh Linh and Nguyen Thi Thao Hien were sentenced to life imprisonment. Six other defendants were sent to jail for terms extending from three to 20 years.

According to the indictment, police caught Le Nguyen Hoang Anh in the act of trading 15 packages of heroin at a house in HCM City’s Tan Binh District on June 14, 2013.

Following Anh’s testimony, the police arrested Cao Tri Trung and Tran Tuan An, the two leaders of the ring, and other accomplices, and seized a large amount of ecstasy, a dangerous drug that can cause hallucinations, and other type of drugs.

Investigation shows that from March to June 2013, the intranational drug trafficking ring bought drugs from northern provinces and then repackaged them for sale in HCM City. During this period, they traded 213 packages of heroin, weighing about 54kg in all.

The death penalty is applied in Viet Nam in cases of trafficking of 100g of heroin or more.

VNS