The indictment said Tho No Bi, 37, had been hired by another Lao national late last year to bring drugs of different kinds into Vietnam to find customers.

He then reached a man in northern Vietnam, who ordered six kilograms of methamphetamine and 48,000 ecstasy pills. The package was expected to fetch $48,000 and Bi was offered payment worth around $230 for the transaction.

He was arrested when carrying the drugs on his back, trekking through the border into Vietnam at Que Phong District of Nghe An.

He was charged with illegal trade of narcotics.

He admitted the crime, saying his family of nine kids usually had to struggle with poverty and hunger. He himself did not have a stable job and the income from farming could not help him and his wife afford raising their children, Dan Tri reported.

But the judge panel said the drug amount was "especially large" and that he should be sentenced to death.

Vietnam is known to have some of the world’s toughest drug laws.

Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.

Vietnam is a key trafficking hub for narcotics from the Golden Triangle, an intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, the world's second largest drug producing area after the Golden Crescent in South Asia.