Hoang Van Hai, Trang A Vu and Thao A Su

VIETNAM: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH OVER DRUG-RELATED CRIMES

November 29, 2020:

Five Vietnamese men on 27 November 2020 were sentenced to death for illicitly selling and transporting drugs.
The People’s Court in the north-central province of Nghe An opened trials against two separate drug-related cases on 26 November.
The first trial involved Hoang Van Hai, 30, Trang A Vu, 28, and Thao A Su, 28, who all hail from the northern
province of Bac Kan.
The indictment showed that police in Ky Son District, Nghe An, arrested the three men when they were about to catch a coach to Hanoi at 8:00 pm on 9 May.
Officers caught them red-handed carrying 20 bricks of heroin and 24 packs of narcotics.
The men claimed to have purchased the stimulants from a seller in Laos and were planning to resell the products in Vietnam for profit. Hai, Vu, and Su were thus given the death penalty for the illegal transport of narcotics.
The defendants of the second case were Nguyen Van Duan, 40, who resides in Nghe An, and Nguyen Van Hao, 47, who hails from Ho Chi Minh City.
In March, Duan was wanted by Nghe An police for illegal drug sales as he ran away to Ho Chi Minh City.
He met Hao in the southern metropolis, hired the latter to transport drugs from Nghe An to Ho Chi Minh City, and promised to pay him VND20 million (US$865) per kilogram of drugs.
On 6 April, Duan returned to Nghe An with $22,500 and bought five kilograms of crystal meth from a Laotian man and asked a local man named Ha to hide the narcotics.
On 22 April, Hao was arrested while he was transporting the drugs in Vinh City, Nghe An.
Officers expanded their investigation and apprehended Duan as he was staying in the north-central province.
Both defendants were sentenced to death for their serious offense.