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Agence France-Presse

Nine drug smugglers were sentenced to death in Vietnam on Friday for selling methamphetamine and heroin in a country with some of the toughest drug laws in the world.
Heroin has long been the drug of choice among users in Vietnam, mostly older men, but synthetic drugs use is on the rise especially among a growing class of hard-partying youth.
The sentences handed down on Friday were among the toughest in years and came after a long trial in northern Ha Nam province.

The ring leaders were convicted for trading 18.5 kilograms of heroin and 563 grams of methamphetamine in northern Vietnam, according to the state-run Vietnam news agency.
Three others were given life in prison, and another 10 were sentenced to between seven to 21 years in jail in connection with the drug ring.
“The investigation showed that 22 defendants had illegally traded drugs many times,” Ha Nam people’s court said on its website.
Separately, four men were also sentenced to death in northeastern Cao Bang province on Friday for dealing heroin, state media reported.
Communist Vietnam has long vowed to tackle “social vices” including drug use, which is prevalent throughout the country.

It has some of the harshest punishments in the world, and anyone caught with more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 20 kilograms of opium can be sentenced to death.
Authorities have struggled to contain a growing trend among youth for synthetic drugs such as Ecstasy, methamphetamines or ketamine.
Seven people died after using drugs at an electronic music festival in September in Hanoi, a buttoned-up capital with a reputation for being conservative.
Many of the synthetic drugs on the market in Vietnam come from the notorious Golden Triangle region, a lawless borderland region covering parts of Thailand, Myanmar and Lao.



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Vietnam

Nine sentenced to death in Vietnam for dealing methamphetamine and heroin

Firefighters burn drugs confiscated by the police on the border between China and Vietnam, in Ningming county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region March 10, 2014. Around 1,000 kilogram of drugs including heroin were destroyed on Monday. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: DRUGS SOCIETY CRIME LAW) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

(181121) -- MUANG MO, Nov. 21, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Soldiers attend a police skill practice during patrol missions along the Mekong River, Nov. 21, 2018. The 76th Mekong River joint patrol led by China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand started on Tuesday morning from Guanlei Port, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province. According to Yunnan border police bureau, the joint patrol will last five days and cover a range of over 500 kilometers to enhance anti-terrorism capability, safeguard the security and crack down on cross-border crimes. The patrol will include anti-terrorism drills, police skill practices and an anti-drug campaign. Since December 2011, the joint patrols have covered more than 39,500 kilometers, with 122 merchant ships rescued and 582.28 kilograms of drugs seized. The Mekong River, also known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping among China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. (Xinhua/Xie Zi

HAN40:FEATURE:XA LINH,VIETNAM - FOR RELEASE WITH STORY BC-VIETNAM-DRUGS - Sixty-three-year-old Hang A Trang, smokes opium from a pipe in a dimly lit room in the northern village of Xa Linh. Trang who has been addicted to opium for 34 years claims he wants to kick the habit. Vietnamese doctors and United Nations officials are investigating the potential of "Heantos", a locally produced herbal medicine as a cure for opium and heroin addiction. Heantos is said to cure people of adiction in as little as five days with very few side-effects. Picture taken 30JUL97 dm/Photo by Dylan Martinez REUTERS

The smugglers were sentenced for selling heroin and methamphetamine. Photo: Shutterstock

Can Myanmar meeting stop the tide of meth ‘flooding’ the Asia-Pacific?

Methamphetamine pills called yaba (madness medicine) have become Southeast Asia’s most popular drug. Photo: Handout

Thailand police shows one of its largest crystal methamphetamine busts during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Panu Wongcha-um

(180626) -- DEHONG, June 26, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Border police officers set fire to illicit drugs in Mangshi of Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, June 26, 2018. Tuesday marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. A total of 6.63 tonnes of seized drugs including heroin, methamphetamines, opium and morphine were destroyed here. (Xinhua/Xiao Lin) (lmm)

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

The sentences handed down on Friday were among the toughest in years and came after a long trial in northern Ha Nam province


Drugs

Crime