The condemned are key members of the 89-person ring that has been found guilty of trafficking over 5,000 cakes of heroin and thousands of pills of different types.
Thirteen others were sentenced life in prison, while the rest received sentences of up to 20 years in prison on charges of ‘making false documents’, ‘illegally possessing military weapons’, ‘illegally running a business’, ‘sheltering criminals’ and ‘bribing and acting as an intermediary for bribery’.
The defendants were also forced to forfeit the money earned from their activities, in some cases as much as VND10 billion (nearly US$5 million).
According to the indictment, issued on November 18, 2013 by the Quang Ninh People’s Procuracy, the defendants operated in four groups, the first of which was led by Sa Van Cau, who is on the run in Laos.
Cau and his accomplices smuggled heroin and other drugs from Laos to Vietnam and China.
The second group was led by Nguyen Hung Dung and Song A Lau, who also transported heroin and drugs from Laos to Vietnam and China.
The third was co-headed by Nguyen Thanh Tuan and Vu Thi Thanh Huyen, and the fourth was run by Nguyen Thi Hoan and Nguyen Ngoc Doan, who smuggled heroin from Vietnam to China.
Through dealers at different levels, the ring delivered the heroin and drugs to cities and provinces across the country, as well as to Laos and China.
