An appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City has upheld the death sentence of a Vietnamese-born Australian national for trafficking heroin.

Pham Trung Dung was arrested in 2013 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport after custom officials found 3.6 kilograms of heroin in his luggage.

At his 2014 trial, Dung told the court he had been hired by an unidentified man to traffic the heroin in exchange for $40,000.

The 38-year-old, who had been living in Australia with his partner and their two sons since 2000, said the lure of the money was irresistible.

At his second hearing in mid-2016, Dung was found guilty by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court and handed a death sentence.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine type stimulants face the death penalty.

– TiVi Tuan-san