Prison sentence for participant in 'drug party' at karaoke bar

After 2 days of first instance trial, on May 25, the People's Court of Quy Hop district sentenced the defendants Hoang Truong Giang (born 1989), residing in Vinh city, to 7 years and 5 months in prison; Le Duc Minh (born1993)inVinh city, Hoang Khac Hung (born1988)in the districtQuy Hop, Nguyen Trong Tinh (born1992)in the districtQuy HopAll were sentenced to 7 years for "Organizing illegal drug use" and 7 years for defendant Vu Dinh Thao (born1976)in the districtQuy Hopfor the crime of "Concealing the illegal use of drugs".

According to the indictment: at 4:30 p.m. on January 22, 2021, through professional work, Quy Hop District Police discovered and arrested 30 subjects who were storing,illegal drug use organizationat VIP room 6, Hoang Anh karaoke bar in Quy Hop town. The subjects include 29 men and 1 woman, all of whom are notorious criminals and drug addicts in the districts of Quy Hop, Nghi Loc, Hung Nguyen, Anh Son and Vinh City.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Le Phan

At the scene, the police seized 4g of methamphetamine; 28.72g of marijuana; 30 mobile phones; 2 cars; 20 motorbikes and some tools for illegal drug use. Through rapid testing, 28/30 subjects tested positive for stimulant drugs.

According to the indictment: after attending the wedding party, Vu Dinh Thao rented VIP room 6 at Hoang Anh karaoke bar to sing, but when he saw everyone using drugs, Thao also joined in.

During the investigation, Le Duc Minh stated: Vu Hong Thai was the one who rolled the 10,000 VND bill into a straw and this straw was used by the subjects to inhale Ketamine. Vu Hong Thai stated that when he entered the VIP 6 karaoke room, he saw the straw above, Thai just took 2 cigarette butts to put into the 2 ends of the straw, Thai did this not for the purpose of illegally using drugs. After that, Thai left first. There was no basis to reflect that Thai used drugs in the VIP 6 karaoke room, there were no other documents proving Thai's purpose of rolling the bill, so there was not enough basis to determine that Vu Hong Thai committed a crime, so there was no basis for handling.

According to the camera footage recorded at the Hoang Anh Karaoke bar, when Hoang Truong Giang arrived, Ly came out to greet him and the two of them hit each other's hands. Then Giang opened his palm in front of Ly and saw a white package. Pham Hong Ly said that was the package that Le Van Mao gave to Ly and asked Ly to give to Giang. Ly did not know what it was. Hoang Truong Giang said that it was a soup package that Giang brought from the wedding.

The investigation has not yet established any basis to determine Ly's criminal intent. Furthermore, Pham Hong Ly's actions related to Le Van Mao, a suspect on the run. Therefore, the Investigation Police Department of Quy Hop District Police will continue to investigate and handle the case when there is sufficient evidence.

Regarding the drug users in VIP 6 Karaoke room Hoang Anh, the behavior did not constitute a crime, so Quy Hop district police handled it administratively.

As for Hoang Anh, the owner of the Karaoke bar did not know that the subjects were using drugs in VIP room 6, there was no basis for criminal prosecution but administrative prosecution.

As for Le Van Mao, after being discovered by the police, Mao fled the area. Currently, the investigation agency has prosecuted the defendant for the crime of "Organizing illegal use of narcotics" according to the provisions of Point b, Clause 2, Article 255 of the Penal Code and issued a wanted notice. The case will be separated for later investigation and handling.

The defendants have aggravating circumstances due to their bad personal background: Hoang Truong Giang has 1 criminal record and 1 previous conviction for "Gambling" and "Illegal drug trafficking". Defendant Hoang Khac Hung was also sentenced to 17 months in prison by the People's Court of Nghe An province for "Gambling". Le Duc Minh and Vu Dinh Thao also have previous convictions for "Gambling".