HANOI – A court in Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced an Australian man to life in prison in for attempting to traffic 3.5 kilograms of heroin to Australia.

Nathan Andrew James was arrested at HCMC’s Tan Son Nhat International airport while preparing to board a Sydney-bound flight in October 2013. Custom officials found the drugs in his luggage.

According to the indictment, James had been asked by someone called “Tim” to carry the drugs to clear an existing debt in Australia. “Tim” has not yet been found.

On Monday, James was sentenced by a judge to life in prison.

The civil court could have sentenced the 34-year-old to death, but it took his restricted cognitive capability into consideration, local media reported.

Vietnam has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. Anyone caught with more than 600 grams of heroin faces the death penalty.

– TiVi Tuan-san