Three Vietnamese policemen and a local resident died after a shootout with an alleged drug trafficker, state-linked media reported on Saturday. The wanted man, Vang A Khua, was also killed, VietnamNet news website reported. He allegedly used a Kalashnikov assault rifle to open fire on anti-narcotics officers who surrounded his home Friday in Hoa Binh, a mountainous province southwest of Hanoi, VietnamNet reported. One policeman and a local resident died at the scene while two other officers succumbed to injuries later in hospital, the report said, adding three other policemen were wounded in the raid. Thanh Nien newspaper said Khua, 54, took his daughter hostage during the incident but she was freed safely. The report did not give the daughter's age. Local police refused to comment to selfnews about the case. Vietnam's mountainous northwestern provinces are considered hot spots for drug trafficking. The communist-ruled nation imposes harsh penalties on drug traffickers. Any one arrested with more than 600 grams of heroin or 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of opium usually receives the death penalty. 