HANOI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Five members of a transnational drug trafficking ring, including the 41-year-old Lao ringleader and four Vietnamese accomplices, were sentenced to death for smuggling 148 cakes of heroin, Vietnam News Agency reported on Thursday.
The People's Court in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh province on Wednesday handed down the death penalties to the five defendants. Four other members of the ring were sentenced to life imprisonment, while four others got 20-year jail term each.
According to the indictment, on June 16, 2018, police of Quang Ninh province detained a 43-year-old Vietnamese man transporting 72 heroin cakes hidden in a fridge. After further investigations, the provincial police arrested 12 other individuals, who allegedly transported a total of 148 cakes of heroin from Laos to Vietnam for sales.
The police were also hunting for two others members of the ring.
According to the Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.
