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Vietnamese government officials inspect heroin before its destroyed |
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VIETNAM: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
May 30, 2017: A Vietnamese drug lord who continued to run his smuggling network from prison was sentenced to die alongside four of his lieutenants, an official said. The five members of the drugs ring, led by convicted heroin dealer Phan Dinh Tuan, were given death sentences by a court in central Nghe An province on May 30, a court official told AFP. Tuan was able to oversee the heroin smuggling "thanks to a mobile phone his partner gave him after visiting him in prison", state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. The 46-year-old has a long rap sheet. His latest conviction revolves around smuggling offences committed in 2013 when he was serving time for murder. He was already sentenced to death for separate drug smuggling offences in 2015. The latest sentence comes after his cartel was found guilty of smuggling 102 kilograms (225 pounds) of heroin into Vietnam from Laos. (Source: AFP, 31/05/2017)
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