91-YEAR-OLD DRUG DEALER GETS JAIL

HANOI, Vietnam -- A court in northern Vietnam has finally sent a
91-year-old woman to jail after she was convicted repeatedly of drug
dealing, police said Saturday.

Courts in Thai Binh province had convicted Pham Thi Ngoc eight times in the
past four years, but she remained free and unrepentant, police in Quang
Trung precinct said. Ngoc received sentences ranging from two to 20 years,
but the courts were reluctant to send her to jail because of her advanced age.

Ngoc recently received her ninth conviction after she was caught selling
opium. She was sentenced to 30 years in jail and ordered to pay a $50,000
fine. She was immediately sent to jail to serve her sentence, police said.

Drug addiction is a growing problem in Vietnam, where there are more than
100,000 drug addicts out of a population of about 78 million, according to
government reports.