Pubdate: Tue, 21 May 2002
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371

VIETNAM EXECUTES TAIWANESE MAN ON DRUG CHARGES

HANOI, Vietnam- A Taiwanese man and his Vietnamese associate were executed 
by a firing squad in southern Vietnam for producing illegal drugs, a court 
official said Wednesday.

Chen Chi Tien, 48, and Tram Huy, a Vietnamese of Chinese origin, were 
executed in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, said the official, who spoke on 
condition of anonymity.

The Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported that Chen came to Vietnam 
in 1989 as a businessman.

In 1994, he rented land to set up a farm on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh 
City, but used the facility to produce illegal drugs, the newspaper said.

In May 1995, Chen was arrested along with three associates _ Huy, Phung Phu 
and Ta Cu Tai, all Vietnamese of Chinese origin. Police seized more than 
382 pounds of methamphetamine.

The four men were sentenced to death by a court in Ho Chi Minh City, and an 
appeals court in 1998 upheld the sentences against Chen, Huy and Phu, but 
reduced Tai's to life imprisonment, the newspaper said. It was not clear 
what happened to Phu.

Last year, 55 drug traffickers were sentenced to the firing squad, compared 
with 87 in 2000.

Over the past five years, 310 people have been sentenced to death for 
drug-related offenses.