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Agence France-Presse

Two South Koreans were among 18 people sentenced to death on drug smuggling and trafficking charges in Vietnam, state media said.
The communist country has some of the toughest drug laws in the world, and is notoriously secretive about its executions.
South Korean ex-police officer Kim Soon-sik, 63, and compatriot Kang Seon-hok, 30, were sentenced to death following a four-day trial in Ho Chin Minh City, state media said late on Saturday.
Chinese citizen Li Tian Guan, 58, and alleged Vietnamese ringleader Le Ho Vu, 36, were also handed death sentences.
Fourteen other people were handed death sentences too in connection with the case, following the trial in the Family and Juvenile Court, under Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court.
The group “illegally stored, trafficked and traded more than 216kg of drugs” between May and June 2020, state media news site Cong an Nhan dan reported.
More than 168kg (370 pounds) of “all kinds of drugs” were confiscated, it reported, without specifying what type.


The narcotics were trafficked from Cambodia to Ho Chin Minh City, according to Vu, where some were “consumed domestically” while others were transported to South Korea, Cong an Nhan dan said.
Officers busted the operation on July 19 in Ho Chin Minh City, according to the reported indictment, when they searched a container truck preparing to complete customs clearance for shipment to South Korea.
Inside they found “40 plastic packages containing white crystals, with a total of 39.5kg of methamphetamine”.
State media reported Vu was convicted of “illegal transportation of drugs” and “using fake seals or documents of organisations”.
The other 17 people were convicted of “illegal possession of drugs”, “illegal trading of drugs”, “illegal drug trafficking” and “organisation of illegal use of drugs”, state media said.
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Three defendants were also sentenced to life imprisonment for “illegal drug trafficking”, Cong an Nhan dan reported.
It added that one person, who was under 18 years old, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
There was no indication when the executions would be carried out.
Vietnamese courts routinely hand out death sentences for drug convictions, and the country is a leading executioner globally, according to Amnesty International.
The country is close to the lawless “Golden Triangle” region that covers parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, with Vietnamese police saying Ho Chi Minh City is increasingly becoming a hub for drug gangs as transport infrastructure has improved in recent years.
Torture, sodomy, slave labour… or was drug rehab centre a needed safe space?
Anyone caught with more than 600 grams (21 ounces) of heroin or more than 2.5kg of methamphetamine can face the death penalty.
A 2021 Amnesty International report said partial disclosures by authorities “indicated that hundreds of people continued to be sentenced to death yearly”.
More than 100 people were sentenced to death in Vietnam last year, according to the international monitoring NGO the Death Penalty Information Centre.
Many face long spells in detention before they are executed, with information about their trials and deaths scarce.
However, Vietnamese authorities declassified some data in 2017, with state media running stories that 429 people had been executed in the country between 2013 and 2016.
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In 2017, Vietnam’s courts handed down death sentences to eight drug traffickers for smuggling heroin to China.
Since 2013, Vietnam has carried out death sentences by lethal injection, replacing executions by firing squads.


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Vietnam

2 South Koreans, 1 Chinese, among 18 sentenced to death in Vietnam drug bust

Defendants stand during their trial in Vietnam for drug trafficking. Photo: Vietnam News Agency via AFP

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Neil Portnow speaks during the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in 2019. Photo: AFP

Torture, forced sodomy, slave labour… or was drug rehab centre in Indonesia a needed safe space that saved thousands of lives?

Many have criticised the facility as squalid and abusive, 2023. A drug rehabilitation centre in Langkat Regency, made up of two large metal cages that sat in a grassy field, first opened to the public in 2011 as a kind of half-way house to treat local men addicted to drugs, and first hit the news in January 2022 as part of a corruption case, centred on two of the regent’s aides taking “cash for contracts”, which resulted in Perangin-angin’s house and vast estate in Langkat being raided.&#xA;&#xA;Credit: Aisyah Llewellyn

One of two metal cages at 
Terbit Rencana Perangin Angin’s drug-treatment facility, in Langkat, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Many have criticised the facility as squalid and abusive, a site where torture and forced sodomy were carried out and which was used to supply slave labour. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

The cells had a single toilet and wash area. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Former patient Andre in one of the two cell blocks. He says he spent 18 months in the facility from 2019. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Andre says he slept on a mattress in this cell block during his time at the facility. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Kartini Sitepu (left), Tulen Sitepu (centre) and Ika Ketaren all say that Perangin Angin’s facility saved members of their family. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Ex-addict Nanda Mahendra says he owes his success to the facility. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Sixty-five men were locked inside the two cages when police were first called to the scene in January 2022. Photo: Getty Images

Eva Ketaren, the former regent’s niece, says the family is struggling to accept what happened to him. Photo: Aisyah Llewellyn

Australia jails Chinese woman 3 years after US$630 million record drug bust involving fake cocaine as a lure

A plastic packet, two lines and a pile of cocaine. Photo: Shutterstock

Police officers patrol in Perth. Western Australian police packed fake cocaine in a sting operation last December that led to the arrest of a number of drug syndicate members. Photo: Shutterstock 

7 Chinese among 33 arrested by Italian police in multimillion dollar mafia money laundering case

Guardia di Finanza police said that besides the arrests for drug trafficking and money laundering, they also seized around 10 million euro in cash from so-called ‘money mules’, who were in charge of transferring money abroad. Photo: Reuters

Singaporean woman, daughter arrested at Manila airport with 14kg of cocaine

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News

Asia

Southeast Asia

East Asia

A 63-year-old former police officer from South Korea and a Chinese citizen aged 58 were among those handed death sentences
Drugs were trafficked from Cambodia to Vietnam’s Ho Chin Minh City, state media said, while some were transported to South Korea


Vietnam, close to the lawless ‘Golden Triangle’ region that covers parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, is a leading executioner globally.


Drugs

South Korea

Crime

G-Dragon

2 South Koreans, 1 Chinese, among 18 sentenced to death in Vietnam drug bust

A 63-year-old former police officer from South Korea and a Chinese citizen aged 58 were among those handed death sentences Drugs were trafficked from Cambodia to Vietnam’s Ho Chin Minh City, state media said, while some were transported to South Korea

A 63-year-old former police officer from South Korea and a Chinese citizen aged 58 were among those handed death sentences

Drugs were trafficked from Cambodia to Vietnam’s Ho Chin Minh City, state media said, while some were transported to South Korea