An Australian of Vietnamese origin has been sentenced to death in Vietnam for possessing more than four kilos of heroin.

Pham Trung Dung was arrested in May last year when customs officials reportedly found the heroin in his luggage as he was boarding a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia.

Dung has claimed he was hired by an unidentified man to carry the heroin and was paid 40 thousand dollars.

Possessing or trafficking 100 grams of heroin is punishable by death in Vietnam.