Australians, Vietnam, and Drugs -- A Deadly Mix!

I like to think my fellow Australians are smart but sometimes I have to wonder! It seems that every other week I am reading about an Australian somewhere in the world being arrested for drug related offences or trafficking. A lot of these places look a lot more harshly on drug offences than does the Australian legal system.

However, the issue for me here is the Australian Federal Police's involvement in providing intelligence to States were the death penalty applies and then allowing Australian citizens to be arrested in States where they might be subject to the ultimate penalty. If you break the law you should be punished. Therefore, this is not an issue of law and order but rather a personal opinion and concern about the severity of the punishment. Furthermore, it bothers me that the Australian Federal Police are playing a role in the killing of young Australians overseas.

I am ready for any flak on this issue and the position I have adopted. I am unashamedly anti-death penalty and even more vehemently opposed to it where a similar offence in Australia would attract the legal equivalent of a slap on the wrist.

This aside, my point is, if you know that you are putting yourself in the position where the ultimate penalty may be applied can you blame anyone else but yourself for your own stupidity? This should not be construed as the ramblings of a conflicted soul, as I am not conflicted!

Anyways, a couple of Australian women, Trang Bich Hong and Lam Mong Chinh were detained in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) after heroin (photo and with the chemical formula C21H23NO5) was found in their hotel room. Another unidentified woman was arrested at the airport carrying 250 grams of heroin. It seems that the AFP had been monitoring the three and tipped off their Vietnamese counterparts of the three women's role in a drug trafficking operation. I think that the AFP must be prevented from sharing any intelligence with States that impose the death penalty. If the AFP knows of a trafficking operation then they should take it down once it arrives in Australia, at least as far as Australian citizens are concerned.

After intense lobbying by the Australian government the Vietnamese government has not executed any Australians for drug trafficking despite a growing list of convictions. Nevertheless, Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Just 600 grams of heroin can see you sentenced to death.

My question is when will Australians learn that, sooner or later, if you continue to play with fire you will get burned?