Two Chinese get death for methaphamine production

Cao Zi Li and Jian Huang, both 59, identified as the ringleaders, were found guilty of ‘illegal production of narcotic substances.’

Another Chinese accomplice identified as Yang Yuan De was sentenced to life imprisonment while five others, including a Vietnamese national got jail terms of between 34 months to 20 years.

According to the indictment, Cao was sentenced to life in China for illegally trafficking drugs in 2002. In October 2017, Li was granted amnesty and released from prison.

However, he contacted some Chinese compatriots to move to Vietnam to open a methamphetamine production factory.

Since March 2019, Li and a group of his compatriots rented two factories in Dak Ha District (Kon Tum) and Quy Nhon Town (Binh Dinh) to produce meth under the guise of “insecticide production laboratory.”

In August the same year, local police responded to tip-offs from locals and raided the factory in Dak Ha District. They seized over 11kg of meth as well as machinery used for producing meth.

Li and his accomplices were arrested shortly after.

Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty in Vietnam. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is similarly punishable.