Drug pushers escape death by skin of teeth as law changes on day of conviction

Le Nguyen Anh Tuan, 47, Tran Minh Phu, 48, Kieu Duc Hung, 44, and Ha Thi Kim Tham, 37, Tuan's girlfriend, were convicted of drug smuggling Tuesday.

Hung was sentenced to an additional six years in prison for illegal drug possession, meaning he will ultimately serve a life sentence.

(From L) Defendants Kieu Duc Hung, Tran Minh Phu and Le Nguyen Anh Tuan at a court in HCMC, July 1, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Duyen

Le Thi Tuyet Nhi, 31, was the fifth person to be sentenced to life, while Vo Nguyen Thuy Vy, 20, Tuan's half-sister, got 20 years for illegal drug trafficking. Vy was considered a minor accomplice, and her punishment was reduced based on several mitigating factors.

The National Assembly on Tuesday passed amendments to the Penal Code, which include removal of the death penalty for eight offenses and replacing it with life imprisonment, that took effect Tuesday.

The court said in this case the defendants carried out their crimes using sophisticated methods, including foreign social media applications and intermediaries for communication.

In late 2022 Tuan visited his wife Le Thi Thanh Binh, 45, who was serving a life sentence in Thu Duc City.

During that visit she introduced him to another inmate named Lan.

Lan, aware Tuan was struggling financially, suggested he should join a drug trafficking ring.

He agreed and gave her his contact number.

In February 2023 a woman whose identity remains unknown contacted Tuan, said she was "Lan's niece" and asked if he could "accept a gift."

Tuan understood that the "gift" referred to drugs and agreed.

(From L) Defendants Ha Thi Kim Tham, Le Thi Tuyet Nhi and Vo Nguyen Thuy Vy at a court in HCMC, July 1, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Duyen

She later instructed Tuan to meet one of her subordinates and receive an old iPhone with a pre-installed Signal app for communication.

Using various aliases, including "Milk Milk," this woman continued to order Tuan to receive and distribute drugs.

"Fruit" and "shrimp" were used as code words for drug transactions. For each successful delivery, Tuan was paid in cash.

In July 2023 Milk Milk tasked Tuan with recruiting new members, which led to the involvement of Phu, a former inmate Tuan had known in prison. Tuan had served time for robbery, theft and drug trafficking.

The police found Tuan repeatedly delivering drugs to a woman named Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, who has not yet been arrested.

Hien hired Nhi to store the drugs, paying her VND5 million (US$190) each time.

Nhi in turn persuaded Vy to hide the drugs in her house, paying her VND500,000 each time.

In October 2023 Tuan took two packages of drugs to the residence of his girlfriend Tham, claiming he was moving and need a place to store his belongings.

Later he informed her they contained narcotics, and she told him to take them elsewhere.

A few days later, while waiting to deliver some drugs as instructed by Milk Milk, Tuan told Tham to take one of the packages weighing five kilograms to a street corner and hand it over to Hung, who was caught by the police soon afterwards.

They then searched Tham's house and found 105 kg of methamphetamine and heroin.

Further investigations led authorities to seize 1.3 kg of drugs form Tuan's home and five kilograms from Vy's.

Nhi was found to have stored and sold over seven kilograms of drugs.