10 years in prison for "old horse on old road"

(Baonghean.vn)- Having a criminal record for illegal drug trafficking, Luong Van Thao returned home not long after serving his prison term, but he continued to commit crimes.

On December 17, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial against Luong Van Thao (born in 1983), residing in Quang Phong commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

Defendant Luong Van Thao in court.

According to the indictment, at 9:00 p.m. on August 1, 2015, at Tan Dong motel, Le Loi ward (Vinh city), the working group of the Anti-Drug Police Department of Nghe An province caught Luong Van Thao in the act of illegally selling drugs.

During the investigation, Thao stated that on July 27, 2015, Thao was at home in Que Phong district when he received a phone call from a man named Tuan (address unknown). This person ordered a heroin stick for 25 million VND. Thao agreed and promised to deliver the goods in Vinh city three days later.

Thao then called a Laotian to order heroin. On July 31, Thao contacted the Laotian again and took 5 million VND to the meeting point, a forest in Muong Noc commune (Que Phong district) to meet the Laotian and receive the drugs.

At 9:00 a.m. on August 1, Thao brought the package of drugs to Vinh city and contacted Tuan to sell it. Tuan told Thao to wait because he was on his way from Ho Chi Minh city to Vinh. Thao rented a room at Tan Dong motel, Le Loi ward to wait for Tuan to come to make the transaction.

At 9pm on August 1, Thao and Tuan were trading drugs at a motel when they were arrested by the police. The man named Tuan quickly fled. The results of the physical evidence examination - a package of white powder collected at the scene by the Criminal Techniques Department of Nghe An Province Police determined that it was heroin weighing 33.7 grams.

At the trial, Luong Van Thao confessed to the crime as charged by the Procuracy.

In 2008, Luong Van Thao was sentenced to 7 years in prison by the People's Court of Tuong Duong district for illegal drug trafficking. After serving his sentence, he was released from prison in 2013 but the defendant "returned to his old ways".

Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, at the end of the trial, the panel sentenced defendant Luong Van Thao to 10 years in prison./.

Phuong Nguyen