Vietnam cop vows to tell all at drug trial

HANOI, Vietnam (Reuter) A Vietnamese police captain facing trial on
drugtrafficking charges has vowed to expose some ``extremely important
people'' during the hearing this week in Hanoi, a newspaper said Monday.

``In the court, I will declare who has betrayed me and also I will expose
some extremely important people ...,'' the Lao Dong newspaper quoted Interior
Ministry Capt. Vu Xuan Truong as telling investigators ahead of the May 2
trial.

Accepting that he could face a firing squad, Truong said he would disclose
the information in exchange for an amnesty from a death sentence for his wife
and brother, who also stand accused.

Truong also said he wanted an assurance that his body would be cremated after
his death.

Twentytwo people, including 11 police officers and border guards, will be
defendants in the Hanoi People's Court Friday for a hearing that is expected
to last 10 days.

The scandal dates back to January 1995, when two Laotian nationals were
arrested in Vietnam after they were found in possession of 33 pounds of
heroin.

Drug experts say a pound of heroin would sell wholesale for almost $25,000 in
New York, one of the growing destinations for heroin smuggled through Vietnam
from the region's notorious Golden Triangle.

One of the Laotians, Sieng Pheng, earned a lastminute reprieve from
execution in return for information that led to the arrest of about 30
people.

Pheng said the heroin found under the seats and inside the doors of his car
was just part of his delivery and that more was concealed in a false bottom
of the car's fuel tank.

Five police officers, including Truong, were charged with stealing the drugs
after the fuel tank was found to be empty.

The country's newspapers have reported widely on the case. Although none has
openly said that more senior officials were involved, many have questioned
how Truong could have acted as he did for so long with impunity.

The Saigon Giai Phong newpaper said a VietnameseCanadian woman recently
sentenced to death for heroin trafficking could be linked to the same
drugsmuggling syndicate.