Vietnam Hands Down 11 Death Sentences in VN10 Case

On March 16, 2023, a Vietnam Airlines flight arrived in Ho Chi Minh City from Paris. Customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport opened 327 toothpaste tubes carried in the crew’s luggage. Vietnam News Agency reported that 157 tubes contained 8.3 kilograms of MDMA and nearly 3 kilograms of ketamine.

The four flight attendants carrying the luggage were detained and released several days later. Investigators found no contact or financial transactions between them and the suppliers, concluding that they did not know drugs were hidden in the tubes. Police subsequently adopted the flight number, VN10, as the investigation’s codename.

Police soon found that six similar consignments had already reached Vietnam from France. Narcotics were packed inside toothpaste, health supplements and other consumer goods, then moved by passenger baggage or international express delivery. The shipments were gathered in Dong Nai Province and divided for delivery to Ho Chi Minh City and the former Binh Duong Province.

Members sent instructions over encrypted messaging apps, received payments through bank accounts opened in other people’s names and hired ride-hailing motorbike drivers to deliver ordinary-looking parcels. Hoang Sy Thang received shipments in Dong Nai, while Bui Van Anh carried them to downstream contacts.

By the time the case reached court, police figures showed that the investigation had spread across 34 provinces and cities. Authorities split it into 477 cases, seized nearly 600 kilograms of drugs and charged or named more than 2,700 defendants. Transactions worth nearly VND29 trillion, about US$1.1 billion, were traced during the investigation.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court began hearing 20 linked cases on Aug. 17, with 227 defendants before the court. Information published by the Vietnam Government Portal said the court delivered its verdict on Sept. 3 after 10 days of proceedings and deliberations. Ha Danh Nam and 10 others were sentenced to death for illegal drug trafficking; 19 received life terms.

The court identified Nam as the network’s ringleader and held him responsible for trafficking nearly 18 kilograms of drugs. He remains at large and was tried in absentia; three other defendants are also wanted. Thang and Anh received life sentences for illegally transporting narcotics. The remaining defendants received suspended sentences or prison terms of up to 29 years. The first-instance verdict may be appealed.

At sentencing, the panel asked authorities to examine oversight of ride-hailing deliveries, electronic payments and short-term accommodation records. Drivers handled parcels that appeared ordinary, while payments were spread across different accounts and apps. The court said these points had become regulatory gaps available to drug traffickers.