VIETNAM. FIVE EXECUTED FOR MURDER AND DRUG TRAFFICKING

five men, aged between 23 and 45, were put to death at dawn at the Tho Xuong execution ground in northern Bac Giang province. Nguyen Trong Hiep, 23, was sentenced to death in September last year for murdering a taxi driver, while Than Nhan Bo, 45, was found guilty in November 2003 of trafficking heroin into Vietnam from neighbouring Laos.
Giang A Chong, 26, Dinh Dinh Lam, 34, and their female accomplice Nguyen Thi Mai, 37, were also convicted of heroin trafficking and given the death penalty in January this year.
At least 99 people have been sentenced to death this year in the communist nation and 69 have been executed, according to figures compiled from state media and court officials.
Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world.
Anyone found in possession of 300 grams (10 ounces) or more of heroin, or 10 kilograms (22 pounds) or more of opium, could face the death penalty.
Vietnam is ruled by a totalitarian regime, its religion is based on Buddhist and Taoist majorities with a small Catholic minority.