By Xinhua
Hanoi : A Vietnam court Friday sentenced 12 people to death in a drug trafficking case involving a trans-national ring, Vietnam News Agency reported.
At the end of a five-day trial, the People’s Court of the northern province of Quang Ninh also handed down life sentences to eight people and jail terms to nine others.
The trafficking ring was led Can Viet Phuong, now in custody, and operated from the Ha Tay province. He was involved in the shipment of 50.4 kg of heroin that was illegally brought to the country.
In 2006, the Vietnamese police had detected 9,891 cases of drug-related crimes. In that year the country had an estimated 160,226 drug addicts, of which 70 percent were in the 18-35 years age group, according to official figures.
Under Vietnamese law, anyone possessing, trading or trafficking heroin weighing 600 grams or more can be sentenced to death or life in prison.