HANOI : An American man could face the death penalty in Vietnam after allegedly attempting to smuggle more than one kilogram of heroin from the communist country to Australia, state media said yesterday.
The 40-year-old, a US citizen of Vietnamese origin, was trying to leave the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City on a flight to Sydney on Tuesday when he was caught with the drugs.
He was arrested at the city’s Tan Son Nhat international airport with the more than one kilogram of heroin in his luggage, adding police were investigating the case.
Vietnam’s drug laws are among the toughest in the world and anyone found guilty of possessing more than around half a kilogram of heroin faces the death penalty.
At present, there are more than 400 prisoners on death row, mostly for cases involving drugs or murder, but executions have declined in recent years.
AFP
