The secret in the boxes of cocoa and honey sent from South to North
While transporting two boxes of firecrackers, Dang Ngoc Huong lied that they were boxes of honey and cocoa beans. Unexpectedly, the shipment was seized by the authorities as soon as it arrived at the “dock”.
On July 15, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of three defendants: Dang Ngoc Huong (born in 1989, residing in Chu Prong commune, Gia Lai province) and Nguyen Dinh Truong (born in 1995, residing in Trung Loc commune, Nghe An) for the crime of "Trafficking in prohibited goods"; Pham Thanh Lam (born in 1986, residing in Duc Co commune, Gia Lai province) for the crime of "Storing and transporting prohibited goods".
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According to the case, around December 2024, Nguyen Dinh Truong wanted to find a supplier of fireworks to buy and sell for profit. Through an acquaintance, Truong got Dang Ngoc Huong's phone number to contact to buy fireworks. After that, Truong contacted Huong and was told that there were no fireworks at that time.
In early January 2025, Truong called Huong back and was told that he had received the money, so Truong asked Huong to send him the account number to transfer the money. Through another person's account, Truong transferred 19.5 million VND to Huong to order 36 explosive fireworks at 650,000 VND/block.
On January 4, 2025, Huong transported 2 sealed cardboard boxes containing fireworks to a friend's house in Nghe An to deliver. Huong said these were 2 boxes containing honey and cocoa beans.
At about 5:45 a.m. on January 5, 2025, Nguyen Dinh Truong drove his motorbike to the Nghi Long Commune gate, Nghi Loc District (old) to get the incense firecrackers to send home. However, while transporting 2 cardboard boxes home, Truong was discovered and caught red-handed by the working group of the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Province Police. The police determined that the total weight of the 2 cardboard boxes seized from Nguyen Dinh Truong was 33.3 kg.
On January 6, the police agency urgently searched Dang Ngoc Huong's residence and seized 3 blocks of explosive firecrackers weighing 10.83 kg and 2 blocks of explosive firecrackers weighing 11.88 kg. When the police agency searched Huong's house, on the same day, Pham Thanh Lam turned himself in and confessed to storing and transporting explosive firecrackers, and handed over 1 bag of snake carcasses containing 6 round cylindrical explosive firecrackers weighing 5.71 kg; 1 cardboard box containing 18 blocks of explosive firecrackers weighing 31.16 kg. The Nghe An Provincial Police Department's Investigation Police Agency has made an emergency arrest of Dang Ngoc Huong.
At the trial, defendant Huong gave a evasive statement, denied the crime and did not admit to the crime. Huong said that she did not directly send the goods and that her purpose was to send only defense fireworks, not explosive fireworks... However, in the face of evidence documents during the investigation and the process of cross-examining the statements of other defendants at the trial, defendant Huong admitted to the crime.
Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Dang Ngoc Huong to 15 months in prison for “Trafficking in prohibited goods”. In addition, Huong must serve the previous sentence of 3 years in prison with a suspended sentence and a 5-year probation period for “Transporting prohibited goods”. The total sentence of the two sentences that Huong must serve is 4 years and 3 months in prison. Defendant Nguyen Dinh Truong was sentenced to 18 months in prison for “Trafficking in prohibited goods”.
Defendant Pham Thanh Lam was sentenced to 15 months in prison with a suspended sentence and a 30-month probation period for the crime of "Storing and transporting prohibited goods".
