Kidnapping for ransom, drug-possessing gang sentenced to prison
The business couple accepted to transport the package, but suspected it was contraband so they threw it away. Then a group of gangsters came and kidnapped him to demand 1.3 billion VND.
On the afternoon of July 22, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Hoang Van Dang (born in 1986, residing in Binh Thanh District) to 28 years in prison for the crimes of "Illegal drug trafficking, Robbery, Extortion, Illegal detention...".
The panel also sentenced the following accomplices: Pham Manh Linh (born in 1985, residing in Thanh Hoa) to 5 years and 6 months in prison; Nguyen Tai (born in 1992, residing in Dong Nai) to 3 years in prison; Vu Thanh Ha (born in 1881, residing in Phu Tho) to 4 years in prison; Nghiem Xuan Hoang (born in 1998, residing in Thanh Hoa) to 2 years in prison.
Nguyen Anh Tuan (born in 1987, residing in Tan Binh district) was sentenced to life in prison for "Illegal possession of drugs".
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The panel of judges determined that the defendants' actions violated human rights. In addition, the defendants also traded and stored drugs, which are prohibited acts, violated the law, and are the cause of various crimes, so they need to be severely punished.
According to the case file, at the end of November 2017, Hoang Van Dang asked a woman named Huong (unknown background) to go to MSG Transportation Services Company Limited (Ba Vi Street, Ward 4, Tan Binh District) to transport a package of clothes, about 7kg, from Saigon to Hanoi by plane.
MSG Company Director Mr. Q. (34 years old) and his wife received this package. Afterwards, Mr. Q. and his wife hired another person (not from MSG Company) to deliver the goods. However, the next day, this person returned the package to Mr. Q. and his wife because he suspected it contained prohibited goods.
Mr. Q. and his wife repeatedly contacted the woman named Huong to invite her to come and get the package, but to no avail. When checking, they discovered a package of white powder, cleverly hidden in old clothes. Suspecting it was drugs and fearing legal trouble, Mr. Q. and his wife threw away the package.
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| A gang member after the trial. |
On November 30, 2017, Mr. Q. and his wife dumped the goods into the canal. Fifteen days later, many people came to claim the goods back. Mr. Q.'s wife said that the goods had been detained by the police because they were suspected of being contraband.
On December 5, 2017, Dang continued to go to Mr. Q's company to demand the return of the package. Because Mr. Q and his wife wanted to report it to the police, Dang left. Afterwards, Mr. Q and his wife moved the company's headquarters.
The above group of subjects still did not give up, they continued to hunt down Mr. Q. and his wife. At the end of September 2018, the group discovered Mr. Q. and his wife's new business location, so they came to demand the goods.
Dang, Pham Manh Linh, and Vu Thanh Ha entered Mr. Q's company headquarters, caused chaos, chased the employees out, then restrained the couple, demanding compensation of 1.3 billion VND for the package, or they would be killed.
Here, they threatened and opened the safe of Mr. Q's family, took 5 taels of gold, some jewelry and 50 million VND in cash. At the same time, they controlled and kidnapped Mr. Q.
They took the victim to the suspect Dang's house in Sala urban area in District 2, then detained him in many places in Phu Nhuan district and District 12.
During this process, they continuously tortured and used knives to injure Mr. Q. At the same time, they also pressured the victim's family to pay 1.3 billion VND.
Through many investigative sources, Tan Binh District Police obtained information and coordinated with the Organized Crime Prevention Team (Team 2) of the Criminal Police Department to plan to solve the case and rescue the hostages.
On September 26, 2018, the authorities coordinated to raid a location in District 12 to safely rescue Mr. Q and arrest the group of subjects.
Searching the suspects' homes, the police seized a large amount of drug evidence, including: 25 bags containing 15,723 synthetic drug tablets, weighing 5,872.56 grams, 7 blue and orange tablets engraved with the word VL, 9 nylon bags containing synthetic drugs Ketamine and MDMA...
Through the investigation results, it was determined that in addition to the above crimes, the subjects also had drug trafficking behavior. At Nguyen Anh Tuan's house, the authorities seized nearly 6kg of synthetic drugs (type MDMA).
Tuan stated that the drugs were sent by Dang. However, Dang did not admit that the synthetic drugs were his. Therefore, Tuan must bear criminal responsibility for the act of “possessing drugs with a quantity of drugs”.
