The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court on May 29 handed the death penalty to Bui Phu Qui, 27, on charges of illegal drug trading.
Other defendants in the case received prison terms ranging from four to 20 years for offences including illegal drug trading, illegal possession of narcotics and illegal transportation of narcotics.
According to the indictment, Qui was identified as the mastermind behind a large scale drug trafficking network operating in Ho Chi Minh City.
Beginning in November 2022, Qui allegedly received narcotics from a man identified only as Loc before hiring Nguyen Minh Trung, 29, and Ha Phuoc Tri, 21, to transport, store and deliver the drugs to buyers.
On March 1, 2023, police stopped Trung in an alley along Provincial Road 10 in An Lac Ward after he was seen receiving five suspicious boxes.
A search uncovered nearly 109kg of various narcotics. Trung later told investigators that Qui had instructed him to transport the drugs to a storage location.
Investigators determined that Qui had repeatedly sold narcotics to Tran Nhat Hao, 26. Qui also allegedly paid Trung and Tri VND 10 million (approximately USD 385) for each drug transportation trip.
In an expanded investigation on August 27, 2023, police in District 1 discovered suspicious behaviour involving Le Trien Khon, 25, and Nguyen Thi Thao Ly, 19, while they were travelling along Tran Dinh Xu Street.
During the inspection, officers found narcotics hidden inside Ly’s bra.
Khon and Ly later confessed to purchasing the drugs from Nguyen Dinh Duy, 22, and Mai Quoc Viet, 20, with the intention of reselling them for profit.