Vietnam condemns six heroin traffickers to death

HANOI, Dec 16 (Reuters) A Vietnamese court has condemned six people to death by firing squad and 12 to life in jail for trafficking more than 15 kg (33 lb) of heroin, state media said today.

The six facing execution were in a ring that trafficked the heroin and 3.5 kg of opium in candy boxes or medical herbs from Laos for retail in Hanoi between 1996 and 2001, the VNExpress newspaper said, citing a Hanoi court's verdict yesterday.

One of the 12 jailed for life was a policeman who intercepted two packs of heroin from the trafficker and sold it on his own, the e-newspaper said. Five others were handed terms of seven to 20 years after the two-week trial.

Trafficking in more than 600 grams (1.32 lb) of heroin or five kg of opium is punishable by death or life in jail in Vietnam, which has also been used by drugs traffickers as a transit point on the way to nearby countries such as Australia.

Reuters LL GC1027