A South African Man has been sentenced to death after a Vietnamese court found him guilty of attempting to traffic almost 1.5kg of cocaine.

The Ho Chi Minh City Law confirmed Coetzee Tyron Lee’s conviction after a half-day trial in Vietnam’s capital.

Lee was arrested on 9 June 2016 at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport after it was found that he was carrying the drugs in his luggage.

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Lee admitted during interrogation to have been hired by a Nigerian man, identified simply as Oden, who promised to award him $3,500 if he successfully trafficked the drugs.

It is believed that Lee travelled from South Africa to Brazil, where he received a black backpack. He then transited to Dubai before making it to Vietnam on 9 June 2016.

In court, he claimed the backpack was not his and was only “inside my bag,” further claiming he didn’t know drug trafficking was illegal in Vietnam.

He also claimed to be schizophrenic. A story in Vietnamese online newspaper VnExpress in May 2017 reported that Lee’s trial had been postponed pending a psychiatric assessment.

“In my entire life I’ve never managed to finish reading a book or accomplish anything,” Coetzee said, adding that his schizophrenia impaired his ability to control his actions and emotions.

Whether Lee’s claims of schizophrenia were legitimate is unclear.

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Vietnam, where possession of 100g or more of heroin or cocaine is punishable by death, is known for having drug laws that are among the toughest in the world.

Currently, there are more than 20 foreigners in Vietnam prisons serving life terms, and others death, for their active participation in trying to traffick drugs into the country.