HANOI (AFP) - FOUR Vietnamese have been condemned to death in northern Vietnam for drug trafficking, a state newspaper said on Saturday.

The men, born between 1961 and 1982, were tried in Thai Nguyen province along with four others jailed for life, the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper said. Their four-day trial ended on Friday.

Two of them were arrested in December 2007 in Thai Nguyen with 19.33 kilograms (around 43 pounds) of heroin hidden in their car, the newspaper said.

The police then extended the investigation and arrested the six others, accused of drug trafficking in Thai Nguyen, Hanoi and the northern province of Dien Bien, it added.

In communist Vietnam, anyone found guilty of possessing more than 600 grams of heroin can face the death penalty.

Last year nine people were executed and 59 sentenced to death, mostly for murder and drug cases, according to an AFP tally based on state media reports.

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