Transporting 100g of heroin or more can result in the death penalty.

Drugs hidden in milk cartons, shipped to Vietnam by air

The Penal Code devotes a chapter with 13 articles, from 247 to 259, to specifically regulate drug-related crimes. Drug-related crimes include many different types of behavior, but are all considered dangerous to society, threatening human health and development.

According to regulations, people aged 16 and over are criminally responsible for all crimes. Children aged 14 to under 16 are criminally responsible for very serious and especially serious crimes. Particularly for the acts of producing, storing, transporting, buying, selling, and illegally appropriating narcotics, people aged 14 to under 16 are still criminally responsible.

Of the 13 drug crimes, only the crime of growing opium poppy and marijuana has the lowest penalty of 6 months to 7 years. Other crimes such as production, transportation, and trading have the highest penalty of death; the highest penalty of possession is life imprisonment.

What is illegal drug trafficking?

According to Joint Circular 17/2007, illegal transportation of drugs is the act of illegally transferring drugs from one place to another in any form.

Storing it in a shirt or pants pocket, swallowing it, putting it in a suitcase or handbag is all considered transportation. The offender is determined to have committed the crime with direct intent, fully aware that the act of illegally transporting drugs is dangerous to society but still commits it.

In theory, if you "accidentally" transport drugs, it will be difficult to be prosecuted because it does not satisfy the subjective signs of the crime of "intentional fault". But in reality, proving this is very difficult, because when solving a case, the authorities must base it on many pieces of evidence, not just the suspect's testimony.

Typically, in mid-2016, a man entering Vietnam was discovered by Tan Son Nhat airport customs hiding 2.4 kg of drugs in a pair of shoes in a suitcase. This person declared that he had paid 500 USD to fly from Thailand to South Africa. Here, the suspect received a pair of shoes and a briefcase from a group of people with the request to bring them back according to the schedule South Africa - Qatar - Vietnam - Thailand, and was arrested while transiting in Vietnam.

In 2017, in a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, the man claimed he did not know the drugs were in his shoes and bag, but could not prove how he was hired to carry the goods, so he was still held responsible. As a result, he was sentenced to life in prison by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court for the crime of Illegally transporting drugs.

Article 250 of the Penal Code has 4 penalty levels for the crime of Drug Transport. Offenders can be sentenced to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or death penalty if the amount of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine is 100 grams or more...

The prison term of 7-15 years is applied if the amount of heroin is from 5 to under 300 grams, solid drugs from 20 to under 100 grams. The penalty will increase to 15-20 years if the amount of heroin is from 30 to under 100 grams, solid drugs from 100 to under 300 grams.

At the lowest level of imprisonment, anyone who illegally transports heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine from 0.1 to less than 5 grams, solid drugs from 1 to less than 20 grams... will receive 2-7 years.

Ecstasy hidden in toothpaste tubes

What is the penalty for possessing such amount of drugs?

Joint Circular 17/2007 states that narcotics are addictive and psychotropic substances specified in the list of narcotics issued by the Government. Illegal possession of narcotics is the illegal concealment or storage of narcotics on the person or in a certain location. This is not for the purpose of trading, transporting or illegally producing narcotics.

Article 249 of the Penal Code has 4 penalty levels for this crime. The offender will be sentenced to 15-25 years or life imprisonment when the heroin weighs more than 100 grams, or the solid drug weighs 300 grams or more. The penalty is reduced to 10-15 years when the amount of heroin, methamphetamine is from 30 to less than 100 grams, or the solid drug weighs 100 to less than 300 grams...

People who possess opium resin, cannabis from 1 to 500 grams; heroin, methamphetamine from 0.1 to less than 5 grams will be sentenced to 1-5 years in prison.

According to VnExpress