Nguyễn Thị Hoài (also known as Hoài DJ) at the court on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the Police

HCM CITY — The People’s Court of HCM City on Wednesday reopened the trial of defendant Nguyễn Thị Hoài, also known as Hoài DJ, and eight accomplices on charges of illegal trading of narcotic substances, illegal possession of narcotic substances and organising illegal drug use.

The case was brought to trial for a second time.

Previously, in June 2025, the court opened proceedings but later postponed the hearing and returned the case file to the procuracy for further investigation.

After several months of supplementary investigation, the investigating agency and the procuracy maintained their decision to prosecute the defendants.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the trial panel sentenced Hoài, 34, to death for the combined offences of illegal trading of narcotic substances, illegal possession of narcotic substances and organising illegal drug use.

In the same case, the panel sentenced defendant Thạch Hoàng Minh, 45, to life imprisonment on charges of illegal trading of narcotic substances and organising illegal drug use.

Six other defendants also received life sentences, including Đào Hoàng Nam, 38, Mạc Đức Vinh, 37, Nguyễn Hưng Long, 38, Võ Thị Quỳnh Trang, 29, Huỳnh Văn Tân, 35, and Lê Quang Hiền, 28, all convicted of illegal trading of narcotic substances.

Meanwhile, defendant Nguyễn Xuân Trang, 21, who was under 18 at the time of the offence, was sentenced to eight years in prison for illegal trading of narcotic substances.

According to the trial panel, Hoài was the mastermind and ringleader of the operation and therefore bore primary responsibility, while the remaining defendants acted as accomplices.

As Trang committed the offence as a minor, the court considered this a mitigating circumstance and imposed a lighter sentence.

According to the indictment, in 2020 Hoài travelled to Cambodia to work as a DJ and entered into a relationship with a man identified only as Zin. There, Zin assigned her to oversee records and package and transport so-called happy water drugs at a warehouse in Cambodia for a monthly payment of VNĐ50 million (US$1,960).

In early 2023, Hoài returned to Việt Nam for medical treatment. Prosecutors said Zin then sent powdered narcotics to Việt Nam for her to process into happy water.

After packaging the finished products, Hoài handed them to Zin’s associates and received $2, equivalent to about VNĐ47,000, for each packet.

From February 2023 until her arrest, Hoài hired Nam, Vinh and Long to mix and package the narcotics, while Minh and Trang were tasked with supervising workers and managing operations. Hoài also rented a house in former District 5 in HCM City to package and store drugs, installed surveillance cameras and prepared machinery, tools and equipment for drug packaging activities.

After processing, the happy water narcotics were packaged under brand names including Chali, Deadpool, Coffee and Crispy Fruit before being sold on the market.

Prosecutors described the case as an especially serious drug trafficking operation allegedly led by Vietnamese suspects based in Cambodia, working with accomplices in HCM City to smuggle narcotics from Cambodia into Việt Nam, where they were processed into happy water packets for sale.

According to prosecutors, Hoài and her accomplices trafficked more than 108kg of various narcotics. Zin reportedly paid Hoài more than VNĐ3.7 billion ($145,000) in total, which prosecutors said was used to pay rent, wages and purchase raw materials.

At the trial, Hoài admitted to the offences stated in the indictment, expressed willingness to compensate for illicit gains and asked the court to consider assets unrelated to the case.

Defendant Minh argued that he had no involvement in or knowledge of Hoài DJ’s alleged drug trading activities. The remaining defendants admitted to the conduct outlined in the indictment. — VNS