Vietnamese Australian, 4 others face drug trafficking charges

Ho Chi Minh City will prosecute five people, including a Vietnamese Australian, for illegally producing and trading narcotics.

According to the city’s prosecutors, between 2015 and 2017, the five people had traded over 3kg of heroin that was to be smuggled to Australia. 

The Australian citizen, Luu So Qui, and a Vietnamese resident of Ho Chi Minh City will be charged with illicit production and trading of narcotics, while three other Vietnamese people will be prosecuted for illegally trading the substances. Local police discovered the ring in May, 2017.

Qui and a member of the ring named Nhan had produced the drugs under orders from an acquaintance of Qui, a Vietnamese Australian woman named Hoa.

Qui, under the direction of a man named Trieu in the five-member ring, also bought 1.7 kg of heroin and sent it to Australia through the post office.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Security had said local authorities have arrested around 8,500 suspects in 13,000 drug trafficking cases this year. The amount of confiscated heroin has doubled and that of ecstasy pills increased by 30 percent over the same period last year, it added.

Vietnam’s tough drug laws say anyone convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamines can be sentenced to death. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.