Vietnam may be the land of Nike but the company’s pricey shoes make them a prime target for thievery. Earlier this week, A Ho Chi Minh City court sentenced five men to up to 15 years in prison for stealing huge shipments of shoes on their way to international markets.

Three drivers, Hoang Van Duong, 29, Nguyen An Binh, 25, and Hoang Dinh Bien, 25, working for freight company Minh Phuong were tasked with driving container trucks from Damco Company’s depot in Binh Duong Province to Cat Lai Port in Saigon.

On two occasions in April 2012, the crew pulled their rigs into the parking lot of Saigon Brick and Tile JSC in HCMC where they cut through the container’s roof hatch, stealing a total of 2,478 pairs of shoes valued at VND5.32 billion.

The jig was up when police caught the group loading the shoes onto a truck during the second occasion.

The group sold the first shipment to buyer Dinh Quy Tuan, 39, for VND200 million. Though each pair of shoes was worth VND2.4-2.8 million, the gang sold them for VND170,000-200,000.

Sentences for the shoe thieves ranged from seven to 15 years.

[Thanh Nien // Photo via Photon]