Life sentence for defendant imprisoned for the fourth time

On October 29, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendant Ha Van Doan (born 1992), residing in Muong Noc commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the indictment, in 2020, while serving his prison sentence at Xuan Ha Prison - Ministry of Public Security, Doan met Nguyen Van Ky (residing in Ha Tinh). After being released from prison, Doan and Ky kept in contact with each other.

At the end of August 2023, Ky called Doan to buy 30 packages of heroin, the two sides agreed on a price of 80 million VND. Ky transferred 55 million VND to Doan in advance, and agreed to pay the remaining amount when he received the drugs.

Afterwards, Doan contacted a man named Vu (unknown identity and background) in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district to buy 90 packages of pink drugs, for 92 million VND. Doan planned to sell 30 packages of drugs to the customer, and hide the rest to sell gradually.

On the morning of September 10, 2023, the seller contacted and instructed Doan to go to Vu's camp to get the drugs. At the meeting point, the two parties made a transaction to buy and sell 90 packages of drugs.

At around 0:30 a.m. on September 11, when Doan went to Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district, he was discovered and arrested by the police with evidence of more than 1.8 kg of drugs.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant stated that he had been sentenced to prison three times for drug-related crimes andtheft of property.

During his time in prison, the defendant met Ky. After his release from prison, because of greed and laziness, the defendant colluded with that person to buy and sell drugs, even though he knew that such behavior was against the law.

The defendant presented his difficult circumstances, his wife passed away, and his daughter is temporarily living with her grandmother, asking the court to consider reducing his sentence.

However, with the large amount of drugs and the defendant committing the crime with the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, the People's Court sentenced defendant Ha Van Doan to life in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

As for the person who bought and sold drugs to Doan, because the defendant did not clearly identify his identity and background, the investigation agency did not have a basis for handling.