Prison inmates conspire to traffic drugs.

(Baonghean.vn) - They met in Prison No. 6 while serving their sentences for illegally trafficking narcotics. After their release, the two became closer and resumed their drug trafficking activities.

The defendants at the trial. Photo: Nhu Binh.

On the morning of July 31st, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case of buying, selling, and transporting narcotics against Ho Thi Thuy (born in 1971), Ngo Thi Toan (born in 1957), Ngo Thi Hoa (born in 1964), and Ha Ngoc Thang (born in 1976), all residing in Vinh City.

In 2008, Ho Thi Thuy was sentenced by the Vinh City People's Court to 27 months in prison for illegally trafficking narcotics. Thuy was sent to Prison No. 6 (Ministry of Public Security, located in Thanh Chuong) to serve her sentence. There, Thuy met Ngo Thi Toan (in 2006, Toan was sentenced to 5 years in prison by the Vinh City People's Court, also for illegally trafficking narcotics). After serving their sentences, the two remained in contact.

On the evening of December 21, 2016, Thuy visited Toan's house and asked him to buy her a block of heroin. Toan agreed to find and buy it for Thuy for 210 million VND. Around 11:00 AM on December 22, 2016, Thuy asked Ha Ngoc Thang to drive her to the area near Vinh University to give the money to Toan, but Toan was busy and asked Ngo Thi Hoa to receive it on her behalf.

Because he didn't have any heroin, Toan discussed with Hoa and asked Le Thi Man (who lived in the same ward) to find a supplier for him to buy heroin from. On the evening of December 23, 2016, Toan gave Man 190 million VND to go to Dien Chau to buy heroin, and sent Hoa along to supervise the transaction, giving each of them 3.3 million VND. Toan also asked Hoa to buy an additional 10 million VND worth of heroin.

In the early morning of December 24, 2016, Man and Hoa brought heroin to deliver to Toan. Thuy asked Thang to drive her to pick up the goods. When Thang drove Thuy and the heroin back to the gate of her house, they were discovered and arrested by the police.

Based on the testimonies of Thang and Thuy, the police arrested Ngo Thi Toan and Ngo Thi Hoa. Le Thi Man, however, managed to escape.

The court determined that in this case, Ho Thi Thuy is criminally liable for the act of buying and selling nearly 352g of heroin with Ngo Thi Toan; Ngo Thi Hoa and Le Thi Man played the role of accomplices assisting Ngo Thi Toan. Ha Ngoc Thang was not an accomplice with Ho Thi Thuy in the illegal drug trafficking, but during the process of transporting Thuy to receive the heroin, on the way back, Thang knew that Thuy was hiding drugs on her person and drove Thuy home to avoid detection by law enforcement. Therefore, Ha Ngoc Thang is criminally liable for the illegal transportation of one block of heroin.

Based on the roles of each defendant, the panel of judges sentenced Ho Thi Thuy and Ngo Thi Toan to 20 years in prison for illegally trading narcotics; Ngo Thi Hoa was sentenced to 16 years in prison, and Ha Ngoc Thang to 15 years in prison.

Regarding Le Thi Man, the police investigation agency has issued an arrest warrant, and she will be prosecuted once she is apprehended.

Nhu Binh