HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced an Australian woman to death for heroin trafficking, a court official said Wednesday.
Vietnam-born Jasmine Luong, 34, of Sydney, was convicted during a one-day trial Tuesday of trafficking 3 pounds of heroin, the court official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
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 1.3 pounds of heroin or 44 pounds of opium is punishable by death or life in prison.
AP-ES-03-19-08 0112EDT
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.