Vietnam sentences Malaysian woman to death for drug smuggling

Kalaivani G Muniandy, 40, was found guilty of "illegal transporting of narcotic substances."

Kalaivani G Muniandy is escorted out of the court in HCMC after being sentenced to death for drug smuggling, August 24, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Hai Duyen.

She was arrested in October 2018 on landing in HCMC on an Emirates flight from Dubai. Customs officials at the Tan Son Nhat Airport checked her suitcase and found 3.3 kg of cocaine hidden in food boxes.

Muniandy said when she worked as a security guard at an airport warehouse in Malaysia, an Indian man gave her the phone number of a man called Prakash, who specialized in labor export and drug trafficking.

She and Prakash, whose nationality has not been disclosed, made contact on WhatsApp.

Prakash asked her to be a liaison for his counterparts in foreign countries and transport goods for him. She accepted the proposal and was paid 6,000 ringgit ($1,436) each trip apart from travel and accommodation expenses.

In late September 2018, Prakash booked flights for her from Malaysia to Sao Paulo in Brazil where she was given a suitcase containing four food boxes and asked to deliver them to a hotel in HCMC.

She told investigators that she didn’t know the drugs were hidden inside the boxes.