Vietnam sentences 9 men to death for drug trafficking

HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnamese state media say a court has sentenced nine men to death for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of heroin.

The Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that the court in Hoa Binh province also sentenced nine others to life imprisonment and four others from 17 to 20 years in jail at the end of the 23-day trial on Tuesday.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that the ring was convicted of trafficking 495 kilograms (1,089 pounds) of heroin from Laos through Vietnam for sale in China from 2012 until the ring was broken up in 2015.

The newspaper says the ring made illegal profits of $672,000.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, where trafficking 100 grams of heroin is punishable by death.