A Vietnam court sentenced a 30-year-old man to death on Wednesday for transporting about 7.7 kilograms of methamphetamine and accepting US$1,300 for the deed.   

Le Dinh Tu, a native of north-central Nghe An Province, received the capital punishment on charges of “illegal transport of narcotic substances” at his trial held at the People’s Court of Ha Tinh Province, which borders Nghe An, on Wednesday.

According to the indictment, local police arrested Tu on March 15 this year after catching him carrying 7,703 grams of methamphetamine, a synthetic drug, on a motorbike from Ha Tinh to Nghe An.

The drug was found in a backpack thrown away by Tu, who attempted to escape after Ha Tinh police tried to pull him over.  

After the chase, police officers stopped and detained Tu, who confessed that he was hired by an acquaintance to transport the drugs in exchange for VND30 million ($1,290).

The trial panel gave Tu the death penalty after concluding that he had committed a particularly dangerous act.

On Friday last week, the provincial People’s Court also handed down the capital punishment to a local man, Pham Van Tang, 32, on charges of transport and possession of drugs weighing around nine kilograms in total.

In July this year, two more Ha Tinh men, aged 20 and 31, also received the same penalty from the same court for carrying nearly four kilograms of drugs.

In Vietnam, possessing or smuggling of more than 600 grams of heroin or over 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine typically leads to the death penalty.

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