Arrest of subject collecting protection money to buy acacia trees

Nong Cong District Police said that a trader reported that when he went to buy glue in Thang Binh Commune, he was asked by some people to pay tens of millions in "protection money" and that if he did not pay, he would be made difficult.

After receiving the information, the district police started an investigation. On November 16, Nong Cong District Police arrested Mr. ND Ch. (51 years old), residing in Thang Binh Commune, to investigate the act of "Property appropriation".

Previously, according to the reflection of Mr. D., a trader who buys forest products in Thang Binh commune, in the past, he often bought acacia trees from local people. When he agreed to buy the acacia garden from the people, when it was time to exploit, some people came and asked for money before cutting down the trees.

Recently, Mr. D. bought trees from a household in Ngo Thuong village, however, he was threatened by a man named Ch. (from the same commune) and asked to pay "protection money". The reason, Mr. Ch. said, was that this was his area, if he did not pay, he would be made difficult in the process of purchasing acacia.

“I also thought they were just threatening, but unexpectedly, Mr. Ch. and some other people came to threaten and force me to pay 7 million VND, otherwise they would not let me continue to buy trees,” said Mr. D.

He thought that after the subjects took 7 million, they would leave him alone to buy acacia. However, after buying the first house, in early November, Mr. D. moved to the second house to continue buying, but Mr. Ch. continued to drive a car with some other subjects to block the road to the acacia hill, forcing him to give them 50 million VND.

According to Mr. D., Mr. Ch.'s group regularly collects "protection" money for buying glue in this area. Many people who buy glue like him have also had to pay, but no one dares to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.

“If I had known that buying trees in this area would require paying a “protection fee”, I would not have come, because in reality, we don’t make much profit from buying and reselling them. We have to stick to our guns, and we have bought a tree garden from a local and have to accept paying them to finish exploiting it, otherwise we will lose everything,” Mr. D. said indignantly.

Regarding the above incident, Mr. D. filed a complaint with the police to investigate and clarify.