A Vietnamese woman was jailed for life after being convicted of drug trafficking at a court in southwest China on Monday.

Pham Hoang Diem Chinn was detained at Kunming International Airport on Nov. 30, 2008, after disembarking from a flight from Hanoi, and police found 703 grams of heroin hidden in her suitcase, said the prosecutor's indictment.

The first verdict issued by the Kunming Intermediate People's Court stated that Pham Hoang Diem Chinn, 34, was convicted of drug trafficking, and violating the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. She was given a life sentence and fined 20,000 yuan (2,900 U.S. dollars).

Pham Hoang Diem Chinn denied all the charges and argued that she was deceived by friends, who had asked her to transport some dress samples to China.

She said she would appeal to a higher court.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2009)