VN10 drug case: 11 leaders and distributors sentenced to death

Eleven defendants received death sentences in the VN10 drug case, which began with the discovery of drugs allegedly carried from France by four Vietnamese flight attendants. Ho Chi Minh City People's Court sentenced 227 defendants on Sept. 3, with the proceedings held both at the court and through a video link to Chí Hòa detention facility.

The 11 condemned defendants were identified as leaders or key distributors in a network that brought large quantities of drugs from Europe or Cambodia into Vietnam before sending them to several provinces. Among them, Hà Danh Nậm was tried in absentia after fleeing. The court said he directed the supply route from France.

Nậm allegedly concealed drugs in toothpaste, coffee, chocolate and shampoo. He recruited people studying or working in France to hide the drugs in luggage or send them to Vietnam through express delivery services. The court held him responsible for trafficking about 17.73 kilograms of ketamine and MDMA. One shipment intercepted at Tan Son Nhat airport on March 16, 2023, contained more than 8.3 kilograms of MDMA and nearly 3 kilograms of ketamine. Four flight attendants had allegedly been used to bring it from France.

The court also identified Nguyễn Huy Hoàng as a major buyer from Nậm. Between Feb. 23 and March 16, 2023, Hoàng ordered seven shipments containing 118,600 MDMA tablets, equivalent to 39.8 kilograms. He sold 87,000 tablets to Lê Thắng Anh Tú and other contacts, while reporting that he bought each tablet for 80,000 to 82,000 Vietnamese dong and resold it at a higher price. The court said Hoàng was responsible for nearly 40 kilograms of MDMA and about 5 kilograms of ketamine, including drugs obtained from Nguyễn Xuân Hiếu.

Tú was described as one of Hoàng's main distribution contacts. He admitted buying nearly 32 kilograms of MDMA in four transactions and repeatedly purchasing ketamine from Hiếu for resale. Hiếu was held responsible for trafficking more than 6.8 kilograms of ketamine.