08 January 2003 :

A Vietnamese court condemned Pham Van Thuan to death for trafficking 8 kilograms of heroin from neighbouring Laos into Vietnam, said a court official in Nam Dinh province, 100 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Fellow gang member Sung Van Chu received life imprisonment and eight others were given jail terms ranging from 13 years to 20 years, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
They had 15 days to appeal their sentences. Thuan, 42, was part of a wider ring involving 40 other people who were convicted earlier of trafficking 259 kilograms of heroin and 289 kilograms of opium, the official said.