A court in Ho Chi Minh City Friday sentenced Nigerian Nnaji David Ete death for trafficking more than 11 kilograms of heroin from Vietnam to China.

 

The HCMC People’s Court also sentenced Ete’s Vietnamese wife, 31-year-old Phan Thi Thanh Le, and Doan Nguyen Minh Chau, 32, to life imprisonment on the same charges.

 

Three Nigerians and a Zimbabwean, all members of Ete’s ring, were sentenced to jail terms of between 15-20 years.

 

According to the indictment, Ete, 33, came to Vietnam in 2004 as a tourist and got married to Le.

 

He later asked Le and some of his compatriots to join him in smuggling heroin from Thailand to HCMC and then to China’s Guangzhou province.

 

The ring was busted in June, 2006 when Chau was found in the northern province of Lang Son, transporting heroin to China.

 

Ete said he had earned $7,350 from the trade, according to the hearing.