Pham Quoc Viet, 26, a former anti-drug police officer of the northern city, was sentenced to death. Pham Duc Cong, 34, a former ward police officer, was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

In April last year, police caught Cong in posession of over 500 grams of meth in a local hotel. Cong confessed that Viet had asked him to find drug buyers and had provided the meth as samples.

Viet tried to escape from his residence upon hearing of Cong’s arrest. A police raid of Viet's girlfriend's room found some more meth. Viet surrendered to the police two days later.

Investigation found the meth that Viet was trading came from a drug bust in February last year.

Viet had participated in the operation where police seized 5.85 kilograms of meth. 100 grams of it were taken for testing, while the rest was kept at Viet’s workplace.

In March last year, Viet swapped the drug with six kilograms of sugar and hid it at his girlfriend's place.

Viet and Cong’s girlfriends received suspended sentences of 15 and 12 months for not informing authorities of their crimes.

Vietnam's tough drug laws have 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.