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VIETNAM - Vietnam executes woman for drug trafficking

A Vietnamese woman convicted of trafficking drugs has been executed by firing squad in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's state media says 48-year-old Nguyen Thi Ha was blindfolded and tied to a stake at the Long Binh execution site in the southern business capital, before being put to death.

She was condemned to death after being caught trafficking 337-grammes of heroin from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in 1998.

Under Vietnamese law, anyone found in possession of 300 grams or more of heroin, or at least 10-kilograms of opium, faces the death penalty.

At least 28 people have been handed the death penalty this year in Vietnam, while 19 people have been executed.