VIETNAM BEGINS TRIAL OF 17 PEOPLE ON HEROIN SMUGGLING CHARGES

A court in central Vietnam began a trial Monday of 17 people charged
with smuggling and selling heroin from neighboring Laos, the chief
judge said.

The trial in the central province of Ha Tinh attracted several
hundred people who followed the proceedings over loudspeakers outside
of the courtroom, said Nguyen Tri Tue, chief judge of the Ha Tinh
provincial People's Court.

The defendants told police they smuggled a total of 15.4 pounds of
heroin from neighboring Laos on 11 occasions between March 1998 until
they were arrested last February, he said.

The ring sold the heroin in Ha Tinh and Nghe An provinces, Hanoi and
Ho Chi Minh City, he said.

Tue said the trial is expected to last four days.

Last March, a court in Ha Tinh convicted 23 people on drug
trafficking charges. Seven were sentenced to death and nine to life
imprisonment in the country's second-largest illegal drug case in
terms of amount of drugs trafficked.

On Thursday, 23 people are scheduled to face trial on drug
trafficking charges in Nghe An province, a local People's Court
official said.

Nghe An and Ha Tinh have become notorious for drug smuggling from
Laos following a massive government crackdown in 1995 on drug
trafficking from Laos in the northern province of Lai Chau.

Virtually all of the heroin smuggled into Vietnam comes from the
drug-producing "Golden Triangle" of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

In the country's largest drug case, 22 people were convicted in June
2000 in the northern province of Nam Dinh of trafficking 570 pounds
of heroin and 636 pounds of opium. Half were sentenced to the firing
squad.

Vietnam toughened its penalties on drug crimes in 1997, with the
death penalty in place for possession, trading or trafficking of more
than 3.5 ounces of heroin or 11 pounds of opium.

However, drug trafficking has shown no sign of decline. Last year, 55
drug traffickers were sentenced to death, according to government
figures.