Drug mule gets death sentence in central Vietnam

Dinh Song Hao, 36, was found guilty of "illegal transportation of narcotic substances."

In Vietnam, possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of meth is punishable by death.

The police had surveilled Hao and a man named Han Van Quyet as part of an operation to track down a drug gang.

At around 10 p.m. on March 10 the two were riding motorbikes in Vu Quang District in Ha Tinh when they were flagged down by the police.

Hao plowed straight into the officers while Quyet threw away a bag and turned around and fled.

The police arrested Hao and found almost 30kg of methamphetamine and ketamine in the bag.

Hao said the drugs were from Laos and he had been hired by a man in Vu Quang to transport them to the south. He received them at the Laos-Ha Tinh border and was planning to deliver to another gang member in Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City.

He was to be paid VND130 million (US$5,230) for it.

He had persuaded Quyet to join him.

The Ha Tinh police are still looking for Quyet and the man who had hired Hao.

Vietnam has been flagged by security agencies as a key trafficking hub for narcotics despite having some of the world's toughest drug laws.