Vietnam court sentences 11 to death in major drug trafficking case, state media reports

A Vietnamese court sentenced 11 people to death in a major drug-trafficking case that began with narcotics hidden inside toothpaste tubes.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court convicted the defendants of drug trafficking in a case involving 227 accused people, VnExpress reported. At least 20 other defendants received life sentences.

Authorities launched the investigation in March 2023 after finding more than 10 kilograms of drugs concealed in 157 toothpaste tubes carried by four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants arriving from Paris at Tan Son Nhat airport. The flight attendants had unknowingly transported the drugs, according to the report.

Investigators later uncovered what prosecutors described as a transnational network that smuggled narcotics from France into Vietnam disguised as consumer goods. Network members allegedly used encrypted messaging platforms, bank accounts registered in other people’s names and delivery services to distribute the drugs across southern Vietnam.

The verdicts came as Vietnam considers changing its use of capital punishment. The government proposed last month abolishing the death penalty for six offenses, including drug trafficking, as part of a criminal-code revision. The proposed changes have not yet taken effect.