Drug Smuggling, not just a Man's Domain anymore

by Barry Artiste | March 19, 2008 at 05:41 am | 154 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
Certainly a country serious enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs in their fight on the war on drugs, something western countries fail to do in their fight on drugs.

Aussie sentenced to death in drug case

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HANOI, Vietnam - An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced an Australian woman to death for heroin trafficking.

A court official said on condition of anonymity that Vietnam-born Jasmine Luong, 34, of Sydney, was convicted during a one-day trial Tuesday of trafficking 1.3 kilograms of heroin. Luong was caught with the heroin hidden in her shoes and luggage in February last year at the Ho Chi Minh City airport while preparing to board a flight to Sydney.

Last December, a lower court sentenced her to life in prison, but prosecutors appealed the ruling.

Luong told judges Tuesday she was hired by an unidentified man to ship the heroin to Australia for about $15,000 and was given about $4,700 in advance. The rest was to be paid in Australia, the court official said.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Possessing, trading or trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin or 20 kilograms of opium is punishable by death or life in prison.