Vietnamese anti-drug border forces have detained two people of Lao nationality on charges of cross- border trafficking of drugs and weapons,

Labor newspaper reported on Friday.

The two people, born in 1967 and 1982, were caught red-handed on Dec. 20 in Vietnam's northern Dien Bien province when they were carrying nearly 1.1 kg of heroin, 25 pills of amphetamine, a kind of lab-made drugs, an assault rifle and 20 bullets. Vietnamese police are probing into the case.

Under Vietnam's laws, anyone possessing, trading or trafficking heroin of 600 grams or above can be sentenced to death or life in prison.

The number of drug addicts in Vietnam surged 56.8 percent to 158,428 in 2005 from 101,036 in 2000, according to a recent national conference.

Source: Xinhua