28 April 2005 :

six Vietnamese were sentenced to death by firing squad, three to life in prison and one Lao to 20 years in jail for trafficking heroin and other drugs from Laos into Vietnam, a state-run newspaper said. The VNExpress said on its Web site at vnexpress.net the Hanoi People's Court jailed six others to between 17 and 20 years in jail after a trial which began on December 15. The court was told the gang smuggled nearly 50 kg (110 lb) of heroin, 4.8 kg of opium and 764 ecstasy pills into Vietnam, the newspaper said.