Hanoi - A Vietnamese drug lord who continued to run his smuggling network from prison has been sentenced to die alongside four of his lieutenants, an official said on Wednesday.
The five members of the drugs ring, led by convicted heroin dealer Phan Dinh Tuan, were given death sentences by a court in central Nghe An province on Tuesday, a court official said.
Tuan was able to oversee the heroin smuggling "thanks to a mobile phone his partner gave him after visiting him in prison", state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
The 46-year-old has a long rap sheet.
His latest conviction revolves around smuggling offences committed in 2013 when he was serving time for murder.
He was already sentenced to death for separate drug smuggling offences in 2015.
The latest sentence comes after his cartel was found guilty of smuggling 102km of heroin into Vietnam from Laos.
One woman was also given 12 months in jail for failing to report the crime, according to the official newspaper of the Nghe An provincial government.
With some of the toughest anti-drug laws in the world, communist Vietnam regularly hands out heavy penalties to drug convicts.
Anyone found guilty of possessing more than 600 grams of heroin, or more than 20 kilograms of opium can face the death penalty.
Vietnam is close to the "Golden Triangle" region covering parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the world's second largest drug producing region after Latin America.