Nguyen Thi Loan, 46, from Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, was convicted of “organizing the flight of other people abroad.”

An accomplice, Tran The Phuong, 51, also from Nghe An, was sentenced to six months for the same crime.

In 2018, a “friend” in Hanoi introduced Loan to a gang of illegal immigrants disguised as a tourist service who smuggled people to Germany for work. It cost each person $ 16,500, and part had to be paid in advance and the rest on arrival in Germany.

The modus operandi was to take them first from Vietnam to Thailand as tourists, and after 10 days to leave for a European country, then to travel to Germany.

For every successful person traveling to Germany, Loan received $ 1,000.

Early last year, Loan and Phuong told two women from Nghe An and neighboring Ha Tinh province about the program that it would cost $ 16,500 to $ 18,000.

In March last year, the two men were smuggled into France, but the authorities in that country deported them to Thailand.

The police tracked down and arrested Loan and Phuong.

It has not been revealed whether police identified or tracked down “the friend” in Hanoi or other members of the immigration gang.

In 2016, Loan was arrested for the same crime and sentenced to 26 months. She was released on bail and put on a 52-month probationary period.