Death sentence for teacher who carried a gun and went through the forest to sell drugs
(Baonghean.vn) - As a teacher at Tay Son Primary School, Ky Son District; once received the Medal for the Cause of Education, but due to the desire to get rich quickly, Vu Ba Xenh fell into illegal drug trafficking. Then received the death penalty in front of the grief of colleagues and students in the mountainous region.
On January 15, 2019, Nghe An Provincial People's Court brought the case of Vu Ba Xenh (born in 1979, hometown Huoi Giang 2 village, Tay Son commune, Ky Son district) to first instance trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
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| Defendant Vu Ba Xenh at the trial. Photo: Quynh An. |
According to the indictment, Vu Ba Xenh clearly stated that around June 14, 2018, while going to the market at the Vietnam - Laos border, Xenh met a Mong ethnic brother with the same last name Vu on the other side of the border.
The two quickly became acquainted, and through the exchange, they found that Xênh was someone who could help with big business in Vietnam. The brother discussed whether Xênh and his brother could cooperate to do it. Xênh did not have to invest any capital but only acted as a guide because he was familiar with the terrain and language. Xênh would also participate in the cross-border transactions of his cousin with Vietnamese partners.
For each successful job, Vu Ba Xenh would be paid 200 USD. Seeing that the business cooperation was simple, with high income without having to invest capital, Vu Ba Xenh agreed and gave his phone number for his brother to contact.
During the summer vacation, Vu Ba Xenh received information from his brother that Vietnamese partners needed a large quantity of goods. In order to have the goods delivered to the partners in time, Vu Ba Xenh's cooperation was needed.
According to the agreement, on the night of June 27, 2018, Vu Ba Xenh would ride a motorbike from his house in Tay Son commune to Nam Can commune to participate in the goods transaction, while the subjects on the other side of the border would cross the forest to the meeting point.
At around 4:00 a.m. on June 28, 2018, Vu Ba Xenh silently cut through the forest to the appointed location deep in the forest. The subjects gave Vu Ba Xenh a gun and bullets to protect the goods and together they crossed the forest towards the interior of Vietnam to make a transaction with the partner.
However, the transaction failed when the Nghe An Border Guard force coordinated with the Northern Task Force of the Drug and Crime Prevention Department (Border Guard Command), and Ky Son District Police caught the goods red-handed before they were brought into Nghe An for sale.
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| Subject Vu Ba Xenh when arrested. Photo: Hai Thuong |
When the detectives rushed in to control Xênh, another subject immediately pulled out a gun and fired continuously at the arresting force and then quickly fled into the forest. The incident caused Lieutenant Nguyen Dinh Tai (PCTP detective of the Nam Can International Border Guard Station, Nghe An Border Guard), to be hit once in the abdomen. Another bullet also hit Major Nguyen Manh Hung (Detective of the Drug and Crime Prevention Department, Border Guard Command) in the shoulder. Evidence collected at the scene included 20 heroin cakes, 7 kg of crystal methamphetamine, 12,000 methamphetamine pills, 1 homemade gun, 15 bullets, 1 bullet casing and 1 mobile phone. Through appraisal, the total amount of drugs Vu Ba Xênh carried was 14,968.68 grams.
The panel of judges determined that the defendants’ actions were extremely dangerous to society and required severe punishment under the law. Given the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges decided to sentence defendant Vu Ba Xenh to death for the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”.
