The People’s Supreme Court on June 14 upheld death sentences for seven defendants on the charges of producing, trading and transporting large volumes of drugs.

The seven defendants, namely Trinh Nguyen Thuy, Dang Van Au, Le Van Tinh, Ngo Trung Hieu, Pham Xuan Tho, Vu Hong Diep and Pham Khac Hung, were handed down death penalties by the People’s Court of northern Son La province last January.

Three other defendants, Nghiem Dinh Bong, Ngo Thanh Soai and Nguyen Van Thuan, got life-imprisonment sentences for their involvement in the ring, in what is considered one of the country’s biggest drug cases.

Thuy, born in 1958, and was arrested in August 2005 when he was director of a local company. He and his accomplices were accused of trafficking 216 kg of heroin and 199.5 kg of opium, and producing 48 kg of heroin.

In addition, the defendants were also forced to pay fines of between VND 10-500 million (US $625-31,250).

Vietnam has over the past 10 years prosecuted some 111,000 drug trafficking cases, including several transnational drug rings, in which more than 190,000 smugglers and dealers were sentenced to imprisonment. (VNA)