Sell your house and move to the forest to traffic drugs.
Sam Van Phuc spent a large sum of money to buy over 1 kg of drugs to sell for profit. However, he was caught red-handed before he could sell them. At the trial, Phuc confessed that he had sold his house to get money to traffic drugs.
On January 15th, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendant Sam Van Phuc (born in 1967), residing in Cam Muon commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "illegally trading narcotics".
According to the indictment, while living in the Pù Kẹp mountainous area, Quang Phong commune, Quế Phong district, Sầm Văn Phúc befriended a Hmong man named Thái. Knowing that this man possessed drugs, in July 2024, Phúc contacted him to purchase 50 packets of methamphetamine.
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After purchasing the drugs, Phuc took them to the Pu Kep forest area to hide them, waiting for customers. However, after waiting for some time without selling them, on the evening of July 27th, Phuc took the drugs to the top of a slope in the acacia forest along National Highway 48D (in Quang Phong commune, Que Phong district).
However, before the suspect could sell the drugs, the police arrested him along with over 1 kg of narcotics.
In court, the defendant admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. The defendant confessed to trafficking drugs for resale to make a profit. When questioned about the 50 million VND used to buy the drugs, the defendant stated that the money came from selling his house. After selling the house, the defendant went into the forest and lived in a makeshift camp to traffic drugs.
This is not the first time this defendant has appeared in court. Previously, in 2003, Phuc was sentenced to 15 years in prison for "possessing, transporting, and circulating counterfeit money."
Subsequently, in 2014 and 2018, Phuc was sentenced to 30 months and 7 years in prison, respectively, for "illegally possessing and trading narcotics." He was released from prison and arrested again for drug-related offenses a year later.
In this instance, the defendant presented his difficult circumstances, including being divorced and being elderly, to request the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce his sentence.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Sam Van Phuc to life imprisonment for the crime of "illegally trading in narcotics".
