AN Australian man has been sentenced to death by firing squad for trying to send heroin stuffed in loudspeakers from Vietnam to Australia.

Mai Cong Thanh, 46, received the death penalty yesterday, two years after his arrest for having conspired with two other Australian nationals to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to Australia, a Ho Chi Minh City court official said.

One of the two accomplices, Nguyen Manh Cuong, was diagnosed with mental disorder and found incompetent to stand trial.

The other, Lee Benjamin, is believed to have fled to Australia and Vietnamese police have issued a warrant for his arrest.

The three were reported to have compressed two kilograms of heroin into small pieces and hidden them in loudspeakers.

Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world.

Those in possession of 300 grams of heroin or more than 10 kilograms of opium often receive the death penalty.

Several other Australian nationals of Vietnamese origin are on death row but foreigners are rarely executed in the communist country.

In April 2000, a Canadian of Vietnamese origin became the first and only westerner since 1975 to be executed. In July 2003, an Australian woman had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Earlier this month, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin was jailed for 20 years for drug smuggling.

The Vietnam cases come after Australian woman Schapelle Corby received a 20-year-jail term in Indonesia last month for trying to import 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into the resort island of Bali.

AFP

THE federal Government will plead for the life of an Australian national sentenced to death in Vietnam for conspiring to smuggle heroin, Justice Minister Chris Ellison says.

Mai Cong Thanh, 46, was sentenced to death by firing squad yesterday – two years after his arrest for having conspired with two other Australians to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to Australia.

"As to whether he appeals, that is a matter for his lawyers and his own decision, but can I say that, as is usual, the Australian Government will make earnest pleas, very strong pleas to the Vietnamese Government, that the death penalty not be carried out," Senator Ellison said.

"We've done this with other Australian nationals who have faced a sentence of death in Vietnam and Singapore, and, of course, in relation to Indonesia as well.

"We will be pulling out all stops in relation to this issue to ensure that the death penalty is not carried out, and that is our standard practice."

Australia did not have a transfer agreement with Vietnam, Senator Ellison said.

"We have not commenced discussions with Vietnam in relation to transfer of prisoners but ... certainly we would be interested in exploring it with Vietnam," he said.

Senator Ellison said he also was concerned for a 16-year-old Australian boy serving a 13-year jail term in Cambodia.

Chinese-Australian Gordon Vuong was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on January 22 with 2.1kg of heroin concealed on his body, and was sentenced by Phnom Penh Municipal Court early last month.

"We are certainly addressing the question of transfer of prisoners with Cambodia as well as other areas of co-operation," Senator Ellison said.

"That has been a concern of mine and the department is looking at what arrangements we can put in place in relation to that particular instance."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) today said Mai Cong Thanhis, who is appealing his sentence, was receiving help from Australian officials in Ho Chi Minh City.

A department spokeswoman said Australian officials attended the trial of the 46-year-old man, who was charged with conspiring with two others to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to Australia.

"We can confirm that on June 9 in the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court that Mr Mai was found guilty of illegally trading in narcotics and he received a death sentence. He is able to appeal the sentence,'' she said.

"Consular officers from the consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City attended the trial. Appeals must be lodged within 15 calendar days and can take up to four months before being heard.

"In practice it has taken longer than four months in other cases.'' The spokeswoman said the government knew nothing of Mai's alleged accomplice Lee Benjamin, who remains on the run and for whom Vietnamese authorities have issued an arrest warrant.

News agency AFP reported from Hanoi that Mai faced death by firing squad for trying to send heroin stuffed in loudspeakers to Australia two years ago.

One of the two accomplices, Nguyen Manh Cuong, was diagnosed with a mental disorder and found incompetent to stand trial.

Benjamin was believed to have fled to Australia and Vietnamese police had issued a warrant for his arrest.

Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws, with those found holding 300 grams of heroin often receiving the death penalty.

Several other Australian nationals of Vietnamese origin are on death row but foreigners are rarely executed in the communist country.

In April 2000, a Canadian of Vietnamese origin became the first and only westerner since 1975 to be executed.

In July 2003, an Australian woman had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Earlier this month, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin was jailed for 20 years for drug smuggling.

- AAP/AFP

A 46-year-old Australian man had been sentenced to death by firing squad for trying to send heroin stuffed in loudspeakers to Australia, state-run radio said today.

Mai Cong Thanh, the second Australian sentenced to death in Vietnam this year for heroin trafficking, was sentenced by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court yesterday, Voice of Vietnam radio said.

The court heard that Thanh and another two men, also Australian, hid compressed heroin in loudspeakers to send to Australia. Thanh, who is of Vietnamese origin, and one of his two accomplices – also of Vietnamese origin – were arrested at Saigon Port in May 2003 with nearly 2kg of heroin. The other man was not tried because he suffered a psychiatric disorder.

The second accomplice had fled, the radio said.

Trafficking in more than 600 grams of heroin is punishable by death or life in jail in Vietnam.

Vietnam, which has vowed to get tougher on drugs, launched a nationwide police crackdown this month on social vices such as prostitution and drugs abuse.

In April, the Ho Chi Minh City court sentenced a 45-year-old Australian man of Vietnamese origin to death for trafficking heroin.

Mai Cong Thanh, 46, received the death penalty Thursday, two years after his arrest for having conspired with two other Australian nationals to smuggle heroin from Vietnam to Australia, the official said.

One of the two accomplices, Nguyen Manh Cuong, was diagnosed with a mental disorder and found incompetent to stand trial. The other, Lee Benjamin, has fled to Australia and Vietnamese police have issued a warrant for his arrest.

The three were reported to have compressed two kilograms (nearly 4.5 pounds) of heroin into small pieces and hidden them in loudspeakers.

An official at the Australian consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City said members of the mission attended the trial.

“We made sure that he is aware of his right to appeal,” the official said.

Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Those in possession of 300 grams of heroin or more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of opium often receive the death penalty.

Several other Australian nationals of Vietnamese origin are on death row but foreigners are rarely executed in the communist country.

In April 2000, a Canadian of Vietnamese origin became the first and only Westerner since 1975 to be executed. In July 2003, an Australian woman had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

Early this month, an Australian man of Vietnamese origin was jailed for 20 years for drug smuggling.

The Vietnam cases come after Australian woman Schapelle Corby received a 20-year-jail term in Indonesia last month for trying to import 4.1 kilograms of marijuana into the resort island of Bali.

The Corby affair sparked widespread anger in Australia that included calls for a boycott on travelling to Bali and a biological attack scare on Indonesia’s embassy in Jakarta.