TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A court in Vietnam has sentenced to death three Taiwanese men for importing 479 kilograms of drugs into the country, reports said Friday (June 23).
Two of the condemned reportedly asked the court for leniency because the drugs never entered the market, Vietnamese news website VnExpress reported. The three men all pleaded guilty to the smuggling, which occurred from January to May 2021.
Kuo (郭), 33, and Yeh (葉), 26, pleaded with the judge to spare them the death penalty and give them a chance to better themselves, CNA reported. The third man, surnamed Huang (黃), 25, did not join in their plea.
He reportedly acted on the invitation of friends to travel overland into Vietnam from Cambodia in November 2020 before starting to sell drugs. Huang recruited Kuo and Yeh to distribute the drugs and move some to China.
The three transported drugs in a car from a ride-hailing service but left their goods in the vehicle while going out to dinner. The driver became suspicious and alerted the police. The investigation also found drugs at the men’s apartment and inside warehouses in the Hanoi area.