Fiona Nanna, ForeMedia News

3 minutes read. Updated 10:00AM GMT Wed, July 3, 2024

The Oudomxay People’s Court has sentenced two individuals to death for their involvement in smuggling a substantial quantity of methamphetamine. The court found Havan Teng, a Vietnamese national, and Souliyong (also known as Bounthong), a Lao citizen, both aged 52, guilty of trafficking 93 bundles of methamphetamine weighing a total of 22 kilograms.

The verdict was handed down after the People’s Prosecutor’s Office of Oudomxay Province presented a detailed account of the case. According to the prosecution, on March 7, 2022, around 11 AM, police officers from the Special Task Force at checkpoint 44 on the Oudomxay to Luang Prabang road conducted a routine inspection of a blue Hyundai car driven by Havan Teng. The inspection revealed a large stash of drugs concealed among five gas canisters, three mattresses, three bed sheets, a pillow, and blankets.

During interrogation, Havan Teng confessed that he was hired to plow coffee plantations in Pak Chan District, Champasack Province. He admitted to planning to purchase the drugs from Souliyong in Napoua Village, Mai District, Phongsaly Province. On March 9, 2022, Oudomxay Province Anti-Narcotics Department officers, in collaboration with Mai District police in Phongsaly, apprehended Souliyong.

Despite Souliyong’s initial claims of only selling nine bundles of drugs to Havan Teng and denying knowledge of the source of the remaining bundles, the court, after thorough investigation and examination of the evidence, found both defendants guilty and sentenced them to death. The search for a third suspect involved in the trafficking operation continues as Lao authorities intensify efforts to arrest and prosecute him.

While Laos has not carried out an execution since 1989, the courts retain the authority to issue death sentences. Currently, approximately 300 individuals are on death row in the country. Although there is a de facto moratorium on executions, Laos has yet to formalize this into law.

For more information on the global fight against drug trafficking, visit UNODC’s Website.