Defendants in the court on Wednesday. Photo plo.vn

HÀ NỘI – A court in Hà Nội has sentenced 11 people to death, including two former police officers, for their roles in a transnational drug ring that used an official police vehicle to transport narcotics.

The People's Court of Hà Nội delivered the verdicts on Wednesday after a two-day trial. The case involved 12 defendants.

Among those sentenced to death were Nguyễn Văn Hưng, a former officer with the Đức Giang Ward Police, and Hà Minh Đức, a former officer from the Long Biên District Police's narcotics investigation unit. Both were found guilty of the illegal trading of narcotic substances.

For the same charge, nine other defendants were also sentenced to death. They include brothers Nguyễn Thế Thành and Nguyễn Thế Lập, along with seven subordinates of Thành and drug lord Nguyễn Thị Kim Hương.

Hương, who is raising a young child, received a life sentence instead.

The judging panel characterised the case as exceptionally serious, noting it was a transnational operation involving a massive quantity of drugs.

The ring used sophisticated tactics to evade authorities, including using an official police vehicle to transport drugs and hiding narcotics in the homes of officials. This made the investigation difficult.

According to the indictment, Thành established a partnership with Hạ Bá Vừ, a supplier in Laos, to arrange the purchase and transport of the drugs.

Thành was responsible for receiving the shipments from Vừ’s contacts and bringing them to Hà Nội. Another defendant, Dũng, was then tasked with finding buyers.

In early 2019, Dũng recruited Hương into the operation, assuring Thành that she had a powerful distribution network. He claimed her connections with police officers would shield their sales from authorities, prompting the trio to form a transnational drug ring.

The group adhered to a strict “no direct contact” policy. They coordinated over the phone using coded phrases, such as “Hu huýt”, and used signals like flashlight beams to mark drop-off points where drugs were concealed in bushes.

Authorities determined that between April 2019 and January 2021, the ring trafficked nearly 137kg of narcotics in Hà Nội and Bắc Ninh.

Thành and Dũng were the ringleaders, earning over VNĐ8 billion (US$315,000) while Hương received and distributed nearly 134.8kg of drugs, making more than VNĐ4 billion ($157,000) in illicit profit.

Hưng – the former police officer -  was found to have helped Hương and her accomplices traffic over 37kg of methamphetamine, profiting VNĐ740 million ($29,000).

In April 2019, when a delivery included 30 kg of meth and 400 packets of hồng phiến (meth pills), Thành’s team concealed the drugs in a wooden cabinet and a large vacuum cleaner.

Hương called Hưng to borrow a vehicle, and he used a patrol car from Đức Giang Ward Police to transport the drugs to her rental house. Later, when the rental became insecure, Hương asked Hưng to store the drugs in his garage, and he agreed. He also helped her meet the wife of another police officer to rent a “safe house” for drug storage.

Đức – the former police officer - was found to have aided Hương in trafficking nearly 135kg of drugs, gaining VNĐ1.4 billion ($55,000) in return. VNS