Three Lao men to die for drug trafficking

The five Lao men - Do Vang, Da Xia Tu Vang, Vu Chia Xong, Di Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang, all from Bolikhamsai Province in central Laos, were found guilty of drug trafficking by the People's Court in central Vietnam's Nghe An Province. The first three men received death penalties.

Da Xia Tu Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang are siblings.

Da Xia Tu Vang and Vu Chia Xong, hired by an unknown person to smuggle drugs from Laos to Vietnam, were arrested on December 22 last year in Nghe An. Do Vang and Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang were hired to go to Vietnam to receive money from a buyer. Di Vang worked as an interpreter in this transaction.

The same night police arrested Xom Chay Xia Tu Vang and his colleagues as they were about to receive payment from the buyers. Twenty-eight kg of heroin and meth were confiscated, but the buyers managed to escape, local reports said.

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 large amounts of narcotics has been happening 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; and those found guilty of production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of any other illegal substance can be sentenced to death.