A Malaysian national has been sentenced to six years' jail in Vietnam over his involvement in a network trafficking local girls to his home country to work as prostitutes, court officials said Friday.

Tee Poh Eng, 28, was sentenced on Thursday by a court in southern commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City for "prostitution broking," a court clerk said.

His three Vietnamese accomplices received jail terms of between three and five years.

The ring was busted in September 2002 after police arrested two prostitutes employed by the network at the city's Tan Son Nhat international airport en route to Malaysia.

Ten women

However, before being nabbed, the gang had successfully trafficked ten other Vietnamese women, who received US$500 each when they agreed to go to Malaysia.

The women then had to give the first US$3,200 of their earnings to the traffickers to cover costs, but afterwards were allowed to keep 70 percent of what they earned.

Police have yet to arrest the gang's Vietnamese female ringleader, Ly To My. My's husband, A Chu, who lives in Malaysia, is believed to be in charge of finding clients for the women.

The gang began operations in 2001 following the implementation of a visa-exemption agreement between Vietnam and Malaysia. - AFP