Tin the^m ve^` vu. Sieng Penh-Vu~ Xua^n Tru+o+`ng

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

Largest drug trafficking ring to be tried on May 2

The first-instance court of Sieng Penh-Vu Xuan Truong drug trafficking
ring will be opened on May 2, 1997, said a source from the Hanoi People's
Court. 

There are 22 people involved in this ring including Vu Xuan Truong, former
captain of the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Interior
Affairs; Sieng Penh, Laotian nationality, former director of Export-Import
Company No. 5 in Laos; Dao Xuan Xe, driver of Transportation Company No.
3; and Vu Phong Ma, former captain cum chief of the Logistics Department
of Lai Chau Police. 

This is the largest and most complicated drug trafficking case in Vietnam
so far, so the panel of judges will have five persons instead of three as
normal. Ms. Hoang Tan Thanh, judge of the Hanoi People's Court, will
preside over the trial.