'Addicted friends' get 18 years in prison together for drug possession
(Baonghean.vn) - Phan Van Linh and Nguyen Dang Hien were once in court for drug-related crimes. Not long after being released from prison, this "pair" resumed their old ways.
On the afternoon of November 4, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendants Phan Van Linh (born 1972) and Nguyen Dang Hien (born 1976), also residing in Da Son commune, Do Luong district, for the crime of "Illegal possession of narcotics".
According to the indictment: At around 7:00 a.m. on July 18, 2019, Linh received a phone call from a man named Giang (residing in Vinh City) asking to buy about 50 - 60 million VND worth of crystal meth in exchange for 3 heroin sticks. Linh agreed.
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| The two defendants Hien and Linh at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
Then, Linh called Hien to tell him that he wanted to exchange crystal meth for 3 heroin sticks to use and asked Hien to buy the "goods". Hien agreed and called Giang A Bua (residing in Tuong Duong district) to order 60 million VND worth of drugs.
At around 1pm on July 18, the subjects met to discuss the drug exchange. At 6:30pm the same day, Hien took 60 million VND and went to Do Luong bridge to meet Bua to buy the "goods". After buying the drugs, Linh called Giang to arrange a place to exchange the goods.
About 30 minutes later, Hien drove Linh to the gate of VSIP Industrial Park (in Hung Tay Commune, Hung Nguyen District) to meet Giang to exchange drugs. When they got close to the gate of the industrial park, Linh hid the crystal meth in a nearby bush and then went to meet Giang, but he told her to wait a little longer.
A while later, Linh called Giang again, but he continued to tell her to wait. Therefore, Linh and Hien took the drugs and headed to Do Luong district on National Highway 46B. At around 0:30 a.m. on July 19, when Hien and Linh arrived at Dai Dong hamlet, Hung Tay commune, the Hung Nguyen district working group inspected them. When they saw the police, the two subjects threw the drug package on the right side of the road and drove away for 100 meters before being arrested. The working group took Hien and Linh to the location where the drug package was thrown to search for and seize 300.42 grams of Methamphetamine.
At the trial, the two defendants confessed and admitted their crimes. Both confessed to being drug addicts and had been tried for crimes related to “white goods”.
Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Phan Van Linh and Nguyen Dang Hien each to 18 years in prison for “Illegal possession of narcotics”.
