File image of Margaret Nduta in court
A 37-year-old Kenyan woman has been sentenced to death in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, after being found guilty of trafficking more than 2 kilos of cocaine through the local airport.
The accused Macharia Margaret Nduta was sentenced on Thursday, March 6 by the HCMC People’s Court.
According to court documents, Nduta was hired by a man named John from Kenya to transport a suitcase to Laos.
She was instructed to hand over the suitcase to a woman in Laos and then return with unspecified ‘goods’.
Nduta was paid $1,300 by John, and her plane tickets were also paid for, according to the indictment.
The accused traveled through different countries from July 7 before transitting at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat Airport on July 14.
Her flight arrived late and airport employees instructed Nduta to perform procedures to enter Vietnam, so they could help her book a ticket to Laos.
The arrest was made after officials checked her luggage and discovered that her suitcase had been modified with a second bottom where the cocaine was hidden.
In her defense, Nduta claimed she was unaware that the suitcase contained drugs when she received it.
Nevertheless, prosecutors said Nduta’s claim was to cover up her crime, and she has to take responsibility for the amount of drug she transported.
Vietnam is known as a major hub for drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle, a region where China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar meet.
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