HANOI, Vietnam – A Vietnamese court has sentenced 11 people to death and handed jail terms to more than 200 others following a major trial into a drug trafficking operation that used toothpaste tubes to smuggle synthetic drugs from France.

The case, one of the largest mass convictions for drug-related offences in Vietnam’s history, saw 227 defendants sentenced on Thursday for their roles in the smuggling ring.

Nineteen people received life sentences, while others were handed prison terms ranging from 18 months suspended to 29 years. Charges included drug trafficking, selling illegal substances and failing to report crimes.

Toothpaste tubes concealed illicit cargo

Authorities first discovered the trafficking network in early 2023 when customs officials at Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport found 11kg of MDMA and ketamine concealed inside more than 150 toothpaste tubes.

The tubes had been brought into the country by four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants who had been paid around $450 to transport what they believed were consumer goods. Investigators found no evidence the cabin crew knew they were carrying drugs, and they were not prosecuted.

Ringleader recruited French expatriates

The operation involved Vietnamese flight attendants and expatriates living in France who transported the concealed synthetic drugs to Vietnam through commercial flights or international shipping services.

The ringleader, who was tried in absentia and received a death sentence, had organised multiple shipments of synthetic drugs hidden in toothpaste tubes and boxes of dietary supplements.

He recruited Vietnamese students and residents in France to collect the drugs and dispatch them to Vietnam using international express delivery companies.

Trial conducted online and in person

The trial was conducted both in person and online due to the large number of defendants, with more than 120 lawyers participating in proceedings, according to Tuoi Tre news site.

Vietnam operates under a one-party system and maintains some of the world’s strictest drug legislation. Courts regularly impose death sentences for drug trafficking convictions.

In 2024, Vietnamese courts sentenced 27 people to death for trafficking more than 600kg of drugs, including heroin, ketamine and methamphetamine from Cambodia.

Last year, 11 people, including two police officers, received death sentences for drug trafficking from Laos.

Since 2013, Vietnam has carried out executions by lethal injection, replacing the previous method of execution by firing squad.

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