Mother, daughter among five to die for drug trafficking

Nguyen Tri Dung, 48, Tran Quy Dang, 56, Dang Van Dung, 35, and two women, Nguyen Thi Hoa, 61, and her daughter Do Thi Dung, 39, were found guilty of "illegally trading and trafficking narcotics."

Seven others were given life sentences while one defendant received a jail term of seven years.

Tri Dung, Hoa and Dang were identified as the leaders of the ring that had traded 26.4 kg of heroin, and two kg of methamphetamine from Laos into Vietnam via the border gates of Nam Can in Nghe An Province and Cha Lo in Quang Binh Province.

According to the indictment, Hoa was the main purchaser who collected a huge amount of drugs from Dung and Dang and delivered it to dealers in the southern region.

Tri Dung, a regular drug supplier for Hoa, mainly smuggled them from Laos to his homeland in Nghe An Province, and then transported it for sale in Ho Chi Minh City. Investigation found he bought heroin from Laos at $8,700 a packet, which is around 330 grams.

He was arrested while delivering more than three kg of heroin to Thi Dung, Hoa’s daughter, at a supermarket in the city in October 2015.

The police then raided Dung’s home and found 14.6 kg of heroin, a gun, two magazines and 20 bullets.

Earlier in September 2015, Dang, an ex drug offender and drug supplier, was detained while he was illegally transporting more than three kg of heroin and two kg of meth from the central province of Quang Binh to HCMC to sell them to Hoa.

Expanding the investigation, police detained Hoa and many other accomplices in December the same year.

Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar and the world's second largest drug producing area behind the Golden Crescent in South Asia.

The repeated seizure of huge amounts of narcotics is occurring despite Vietnam having some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or over 2.5 kg of methamphetamine could face capital punishment.

Production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of any other illegal substance is also punishable by death.