Kenyan woman sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking
A 37-year-old Kenyan woman, Margaret Nduta, has been sentenced to death in Vietnam after being convicted of drug trafficking.
The ruling was handed down by the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on March 6, following her arrest in July 2023 for smuggling more than two kilograms of cocaine through a local airport.
According to court documents, Nduta was apprehended while in transit to Laos. In her statement, she claimed that she had been hired by a Kenyan man named John, who instructed her to deliver a suitcase to another woman and return with more goods, the Nation Africa reports.
She passed undetected through three major international airports—Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Kenya, Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, and Hamad International Airport in Qatar—before being caught in Vietnam.
Vietnam enforces some of the world's strictest drug laws, with severe penalties for drug-related offences. Under Vietnamese law, anyone found guilty of smuggling or possessing more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine faces the death penalty.
As it stands, it remains unclear whether she will appeal the verdict or seek diplomatic intervention from Kenyan authorities.
Source: globalsouthworld.com
