Key facts
- Eleven people were sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking.
A Vietnamese court sentenced 11 people to death in one of the country's largest drug trafficking cases, involving 227 defendants. The case began when flight attendants were found with narcotics hidden in toothpaste tubes.
The significant death sentences highlight Vietnam's strict stance on drug trafficking, even as the country contemplates reforms to its capital punishment laws. The scale of the operation also underscores the challenges in combating transnational drug smuggling networks.
A court in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has sentenced 11 individuals to death in connection with one of the country's largest drug trafficking operations. The case, which involved a total of 227 defendants, began in March 2023 when four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants were apprehended at Tan Son Nhat airport carrying over 10 kilograms of narcotics concealed within 157 toothpaste tubes. State media reported that authorities later determined the women had unknowingly transported the drugs.
Investigators subsequently uncovered a transnational trafficking network that allegedly smuggled narcotics from France into Vietnam, disguising them as ordinary consumer goods. According to prosecutors, the network utilized encrypted messaging platforms, bank accounts registered under false names, and delivery services to distribute the drugs throughout southern Vietnam. In addition to the 11 death sentences, at least 20 other defendants were handed life imprisonment terms.
The verdicts come at a time when Vietnam is considering revisions to its criminal code, including a proposal to abolish the death penalty for six offenses, drug trafficking among them. These proposed changes, however, have not yet taken effect.