Five people have been jailed for selling Vietnamese women to prostitution networks in Malaysia, a court official said yesterday.

The Ho Chi Minh City's People's Court sentenced ringleader Vu Duc Anh, 33, to 13 years in prison on Wednesday, while his 38-year-old female accomplice Ly Thi Huong Lan was handed an 11-year jail term.

Three other men were also imprisoned for between 30 months and four years at the end of the one-day trial, the court clerk said.

Tough action

Anh set up a network in 1999 that until the time of his arrest in September 2002 sent 10 Vietnamese women to Malaysia with the promise of jobs. Once there, however, they were sold into prostitution.

His network was discovered after two victims escaped and sought help at the Vietnamese embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The trafficking of women and children from Vietnam, often to work in the sex trade industry within Asia, remains a significant problem.