Pubdate: Fri, 02 Mar 2001
Source: Star, The (South Africa)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers 2001
Contact:  http://www.inc.co.za/online/star/

SEVEN VIETNAMESE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN DRUG TRIAL

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- A court in central Vietnam on Friday convicted 23 
people on drug trafficking charges and sentenced seven to death in the 
country's second-largest illegal drug case, the chief judge said.

Nine other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and the remaining 
seven received jail terms ranging from 10 years to 20 years, said Nguyen 
Tri Tue, chief judge of the Ha Tinh provincial People's Court.

After a five-day trial, the court found the defendants guilty of 
trafficking 32.5 kilograms (71 pounds) of heroin and 2 kilograms (4.4 
pounds) of opium from neighboring Laos to Vietnam from 1996 until they were 
arrested in late 1999.

Four of the defendants were also convicted of using dlrs 92,000 in 
counterfeit U.S. currency to buy the heroin, Tue said.

Two women in the ring were sentenced to 12 and 14 years in jail, including 
a 70-year-old woman who will serve 14 years behind bars, Tue said.

The defendants have 15 days to appeal.

In the country's largest-ever drug case, 22 people were convicted last June 
in the northern province of Nam Dinh of trafficking 259 kilograms (570 
pounds) of heroin and 289 kilograms (636 pounds) of opium. Half were 
sentenced to the firing squad.

Vietnam said last month that its opium-producing poppy fields shrank 97 
percent over the past decade to just 428 hectares (1,058 acres) under a 
government poppy eradication program.

In spite of the success in poppy reduction, Vietnam faces continuing 
problems with spiraling drug addiction and its role as a major transit 
route for heroin and opium trafficking from neighboring countries.

Vietnam has toughened its penalties on drug crimes since 1997, with the 
death penalty in place for possession, trading or trafficking of more than 
100 grams (3.5 ounces) of heroin or five kilograms (11 pounds) of opium.

However, drug trafficking has shown no sign of decline. In the first nine 
months of last year, courts nationwide handed down 65 death sentences in 
drug-related cases. In 1999, 87 drug traffickers were sentenced to death, 
up from 57 a year earlier.
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