HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – A Vietnamese-Canadian man, Chu Ba Chung, along with three accomplices, has been sentenced to death for trafficking over 100 kg of illegal drugs into Vietnam. The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court convicted Chung, 40, and his accomplices Truong Ngoc Mai and Tran Kim Loan for “illegal trading of narcotics,” while Nguyen Vu Khai Hoang was sentenced to death for “illegal transportation of narcotics.”
The court found that the defendants were involved in a large-scale drug trafficking operation that transported drugs such as methamphetamine, ketamine, and ecstasy for financial gain. Despite some mitigating factors in the case, the severity of the crime led to the harsh punishment.
Chu Ba Chung, who moved to Canada at the age of nine, returned to Vietnam in early 2019. He allegedly worked for an individual named Trai, who recruited him to store and distribute drugs in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Chung was paid $100–200 per kilogram of drugs he sold, and he later enlisted Mai to help in the operation.
Since 2020, Chung had been receiving drug shipments from Cambodia, which were stored at Mai’s residence in HCMC. On September 15, 2022, Hoang collected a suitcase containing over 40 kg of narcotics and delivered it to Mai and Chung. The next day, nearly 12 kg of the drugs were distributed, leading to Mai’s arrest during a police raid.
Following the raid, investigators discovered over 100 kg of drugs in several locations linked to the trafficking network. Chung and Mai were held responsible for the entire drug haul.
Several individuals involved in the operation, including Trai, remain unidentified, and further investigations are ongoing.
