VN10 drug case: From parties to death sentences

The VN10 drug case ended with a Ho Chi Minh City court sentencing 227 defendants after investigators traced a large trafficking network back to drugs found in the luggage of four flight attendants.

On March 16, 2023, customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport inspected the luggage of four attendants returning from France on flight VN10. They found 327 tubes of toothpaste, including 157 tubes containing more than 2.9 kilograms of ketamine and 8.3 kilograms of MDMA. Authorities said the attendants had been used to carry the drugs into Vietnam.

The discovery led Ho Chi Minh City police to establish the VN10 investigation and expand it across a network allegedly organized by Ha Danh Nam, also known as Huu Son, who remains at large and was tried in absentia. Investigators described a multilayered operation designed to conceal its leaders. They said transactions linked to the network totaled nearly 29 trillion dong.

More than 2,700 suspects were charged in 477 cases during the wider investigation. The 227 defendants in the case included singer Nguyen Trung Hieu, known as Chi Dan, charity figure Nguyen Do Truc Phuong, and Spanish model Andrea Aybar Carmona, known as An Tay. The court said Truc Phuong supplied drugs and a location for use, while her boyfriend, Vu Hai Anh, helped prepare drugs for others. It found An Tay responsible for possessing 13.758 grams of ketamine, 0.1184 grams of methamphetamine and 0.75 grams of cannabis, as well as providing a place where friends used drugs.

The judges said most defendants admitted their conduct, while some denied the charges or changed their testimony. They cited physical evidence, electronic data, bank records, forensic results, confrontations and identifications as sufficient evidence. The court sentenced 11 defendants to death, including Ha Danh Nam, Le Thang Anh Tu, Le Nguyen Gia Bao, Nguyen Huy Hoang, Van Hoang Minh, and Tran Kien An.