Vietnamese Fishermen Charged With Harvesting Fiber Optic Cable

The Vietnamese government has arrested ten people, including the alleged ringleader, in the theft of underwater fiber-optic internet cables by fisherman who may have harvested the lines thinking they were unused Vietnam War-era copper cables that the government has said were fair game for recycling. according to the Thanh Nien news site.

Police in the southern Ba Ria Vung Tau Province arrested and asked prosecutors to indict Nguyen Thi Bich Phuong, the owner of three vessels found carrying tons of pillaged fiber-optic cable last month.

Phan Minh Tiep, a boatman under Phuong’s payroll, was also arrested. Phuong and Tiep could be charged with “destroying major public national security projects” and possibly face the death sentence.

The three ships’ captains have too been arrested and will face prosecution. Confessions obtained from the three have implicated Phuong as the ringleader of the thefts. The confessions also indicated they began stealing the cables in March this year.

The death sentence. Ouch. Makes me wonder what the penalty in Vietnam is for using someone's open wifi connection without permission.

Previously: Vietnamese Fishermen Harvest Internet Cable Photo: Petr Ruzicka