Among them, singer Nguyen Trung Hieu, known professionally as Chi Dan, and 36 other defendants are seeking reduced sentences, while Nguyen Khanh Du has appealed, maintaining his innocence.
Spanish national Andrea Aybar Carmona, widely known as An Tay, and Nguyen Do Truc Phuong, nicknamed the “charity fairy” for her philanthropic activities, have not appealed their sentences.
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court handed down first-instance verdicts against all 227 defendants in the case, known as Special Case VN10, on September 3. They were charged with various offenses, including illegal drug transportation, drug trafficking, organizing illegal drug use, illegal drug possession, failure to report a crime, concealing a crime, unlawful appropriation of property, and using forged documents.
Nguyen Trung Hieu was sentenced to seven years in prison for organizing illegal drug use, while Nguyen Khanh Du received 20 years for drug trafficking.
Andrea Aybar Carmona was handed an eight-year prison sentence for illegal drug possession and organizing illegal drug use. Nguyen Do Truc Phuong was sentenced to six years for organizing illegal drug use.
According to the first-instance judgment, on March 16, 2023, customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport inspected the luggage of four flight attendants arriving on flight VN10 and discovered 157 toothpaste tubes containing more than 11.3 kilograms of ketamine and MDMA.
The investigation found that Ha Danh Nam, who remains wanted by police, had exploited international freight consolidation and express delivery services to smuggle drugs from France into Vietnam.
The shipments contained drugs concealed in toothpaste tubes, dietary supplements, and other items, allowing seven consignments to pass through undetected, according to the case findings.
