'Boss' of cosmetic surgery on the run for 12 years

The drug lord with two special warrants fled abroad, had plastic surgery to change her identity and continued to run the drug trade.

Detectives from the Drug Crime Investigation Department (C47 - Ministry of Public Security) have just arrested Vu Thi Ngo (from Hanoi) after 12 years of tracking. Ngo is the hidden boss of the Thanh Nhan "drug market" (Hanoi), carrying two special wanted notices, and was arrested while hiding at a distant relative's house in Tan Thoi Nhat ward, district 12, Ho Chi Minh City.

Two goals conceded

Before 2004, Thanh Nhan was a drug black spot. Every day, hundreds of addicts gathered, openly buying, selling, and injecting drugs.

In 2004, Department C47 established a special project to crack down and arrest dozens of people. In 2007, the Hanoi People's Court held a first-instance trial of 54 defendants, sentencing three to death and 10 to life in prison...

However, Vu Thi Ngo, the leader of the drug supply line for this "market", escaped the net, so C47 issued a special nationwide wanted notice for this suspect.

Defendant Ngo at the time of arrest. (Photo provided by police). Defendant Ngo in police archives and fake ID card named Do Thi Hong.

During his time on the run, Ngo continued to organize a drug trafficking ring from Son La to Hanoi and C47 broke up this ring, seizing 14 heroin bricks that had not yet been sold. In this ring, 31 people were caught by the police.

The conclusion of the Ministry of Public Security's Investigation Police Agency proved that these groups had successfully bought and sold more than 200 heroin cakes. In this case, the court sentenced 9 to death, 9 to life in prison... However, Ngo escaped again and the police continued to search for him.

Being hunted down, Ngo fled abroad to hide.

Change name, change surname, change face...

Following the suspect, occasionally the detectives received news that Ngo appeared in Vietnam and immediately sent troops to verify, but there was almost no trace of this person.

"Recently, there was information that Ngo had appeared again, so the detectives searched for him again, sent contacts to gather information at the houses of Ngo's relatives and acquaintances in Hanoi, and sent people to Ho Chi Minh City to approach the area where Ngo was believed to be hiding," said a detective from Department C47.

The boss has plenty of experience and knows that the police are hunting her down, so she tries to erase all traces. “When verifying the place where the suspect is suspected to appear, people said that sometimes there is a woman with a similar appearance to the police description, but her name is not Ngo but Do Thi Hong. Sources also said that this person rarely appears. If she has work, Hong takes a familiar taxi, covering her face so it is very difficult to identify her,” said a detective participating in the investigation.

Through professional measures, the police learned that this person was a Vietnamese expatriate from Hong Kong, had just returned to the country about half a year ago, and had nothing to do with the wanted person. However, with their professional intuition, the detectives sensed that this mysterious woman was the suspect they had been tracking for 12 years, so they assigned officers to follow her.

Through professional measures and the help of the people, the working group obtained the fingerprints of the woman with the ID card Do Thi Hong.

“We have to be sure it is Vu Thi Ngo because this person is very cunning, knows how to hide her whereabouts, if we see any movement she will continue to “disappear”. Therefore, all plans and actions must be absolutely secret…” - Major Nguyen Duy Trung, Deputy Head of Department 4/C47, said.

Bribery when arrested

According to detectives, while on the run, Ngo had undergone facial surgery, making it difficult to recognize. He had his eyebrows redone, had his skin tightened, had cosmetic dental work done… and not to mention that after 12 years, the middle-aged woman was about to become a 63-year-old woman. Only the suspect’s fingerprints remained unchanged.

With the results from the appraisal agency, one night in mid-August 2017, C47 and professional units of the Ministry of Public Security raided a house in Tan Thoi Nhat ward, district 12, Ho Chi Minh City to arrest the suspect.

“When the police raided, the suspect calmly insisted that the police had arrested the wrong person, showing a fake ID card in the name of Do Thi Hong and saying: “I am not the person you are looking for.”

When the detectives presented evidence, Ngo admitted and tried to bribe the detectives. The suspect Ngo sweetly said: "Please see if there is any way to help me. If you need anything, I can respond immediately" - detective C47 said.

According to detectives, during the 12 years of being on the run, Ngo continued to illegally trade in large quantities of drugs, with many assets under other people's names.

"It is possible that the suspect thought that the police had closed the case and believed in hiding his identity with surgery and fake documents, so he returned to Vietnam," said a detective from Department C47.

According to PLO