Hanoi - A court in northern Vietnam sentenced four people to death and seven others to life imprisonment in a drug trafficking ring involving nearly 20 kilogrammes of heroin, an official said Sunday. The People's Court of Son La province, 320 kilometres north-west of Hanoi, handed down death sentences to the ringleaders, Lo Huu Khanh, 36, Pham Anh Tuan, 37, Trang A Tru, 33, and Bui Duc Dinh, 35, at a five-day trial that ended Saturday, according to Le Minh Loan, head of the province's anti-narcotics force.
Loan said Pham Anh Tuan had been a police officer in the anti- narcotics force of neighbouring Hoa Binh province before his arrest.
The court also sentenced seven accomplices in the ring to life imprisonment, and five others to between 15 and 20 years in prison.
"The ring bought nearly 20 kilogrammes of heroin from neighbouring countries to sell in northern provinces from 2004 to 2006, when it was busted," Loan said.
Trafficking 600 grams or more of heroin is punishable by death in Vietnam.
Vietnam sentenced at least 118 people to death in 2007, including 85 for drug crimes.
