11 sentenced to death, 19 to life in Vietnam’s massive drug case

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court delivered the verdicts on Thursday. 

Ha Danh Nam, identified as the mastermind of the trafficking ring, was sentenced to death for illegally trading in narcotic substances.

Ten other defendants also received death sentences for illegally trading in or transporting narcotics.

Meanwhile, Hoang Si Thang, described as a key warehouse operator, and Bui Van Anh for illegally transporting narcotic substances.

Seventeen other defendants also received life sentences for offenses including illegally trading in or transporting narcotic substances and organizing the illegal use of narcotic substances.

Among several high-profile defendants, singer Chi Dan, whose real name is Nguyen Trung Hieu, was sentenced to seven years in prison for organizing the illegal use of narcotic substances.

Nguyen Do Truc Phuong, widely known in Vietnam as the “charity fairy,” received six years for the same offense.

Model Andrea Aybar Carmona, better known as An Tay, was sentenced to eight years in prison, including one year for illegally possessing narcotic substances and seven years for organizing the illegal use of narcotic substances.

Case grew from flight attendants’ drug shipment

The VN10 investigation began after customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 16, 2023 found more than 11.2 kilograms of ketamine and MDMA concealed in 157 toothpaste tubes in the luggage of four flight attendants arriving on flight VN10 from Paris.

Investigators later concluded that the attendants had been hired to carry consumer goods for €6.5 (US$7.54) per kilogram and did not know the shipment contained narcotics.

They were released without criminal charges after authorities found insufficient evidence that they had knowingly committed an offense.

Ho Chi Minh City police then expanded the investigation, uncovering a trafficking network allegedly led by Nam.

Authorities determined that Ha Danh Nam had previously organized seven drug shipments from France to Vietnam.

The narcotics were concealed in toothpaste and dietary supplement products and sent to Vietnam through cargo consolidation and express delivery services.

All seven shipments were delivered to a contact point in Dong Nai, where they were received by Hoang Si Thang.

Thang then divided the drugs and instructed Bui Van Anh to deliver them to distribution contacts in Ho Chi Minh City and the former Binh Duong Province.

Following the case, Ho Chi Minh City police coordinated with other forces to launch the VN10 investigation and trace each link in the trafficking network.

As the investigation widened, authorities found that the network operated through multiple layers and involved transactions worth nearly VND29 trillion ($1.1 billion).

More than 2,700 suspects have been prosecuted in 477 cases, including 227 defendants in this case.