29 August 2003 :

A court in Vietnam's southern Long An province sentenced four men and a woman to death for running a drug-trafficking network that smuggled heroin and opium into the country from Cambodia. Another 25 defendants were given prison sentences - three for life and 22 for between two and 20 years - at the 12-day trial. Alleged ringleader Nguyen Minh Tong and his co-defendants were convicted of trafficking 35.3 kilograms (78 pounds) of heroin since 2000. In a separate trial four death sentences were imposed by the Ha Noi People's Court at the conclusion of a 12-day trial. Three men and a woman were among 20 defendants found guilty of trafficking 300 kilograms of opium and 13.5 kg of heroin from Lai Chau province, bordering Laos, to Hanoi between 1995 and 2000.