Father-in-law and son-in-law jailed for drug trafficking.
At his daughter's birthday party, Hung gave money to his father-in-law to buy drugs. After receiving the money from his son-in-law, Phuong went to buy the drugs and sent them by bus, but was discovered by the police.
On January 16th, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendants Thai Ba Hung (born in 1998), residing in Dien Bich commune, Dien Chau district, and Vi Van Phuong (born in 1970), residing in Chau Hoan commune, Quy Chau district, for the crime of "illegally trading narcotics." The two defendants have a father-in-law-son-in-law relationship.
According to the indictment, on the afternoon of June 24, 2024, Thai Ba Hung held a birthday party for his daughter's second birthday and invited several people to attend, including his father-in-law, Vi Van Phuong.
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Here, Hung gave his father-in-law 90 million VND to find and buy 30 packets of methamphetamine to sell for profit. Phuong agreed and told his son-in-law that he would send them down by bus when he had bought them.
On July 6, 2024, Phuong went to the mountainous forest area of Quang Phong commune, Que Phong district, to meet a man named Phuc (whose identity and background are unknown) to order 30 packets of methamphetamine. The seller told Phuong to stay for a few days to receive the "goods".
By late afternoon on July 8th, Phuong gave Phuc 75 million VND and received the drugs. Afterwards, Phuong slept at the camp until dawn the next day before descending the mountain to return home.
To avoid detection by authorities, Phuong hid the drugs inside bags of boiled bamboo shoots and sent them via passenger bus.
On the afternoon of July 12th, in the park area of Dien Chau town, after Hung received a bag of bamboo shoots containing 600 grams of drugs, he was caught red-handed by the Narcotics Crime Police Department of Nghe An province. Based on Hung's confession, the police arrested Vi Van Phuong.
At the trial, the two defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Defendant Phuong testified that he did so because his son-in-law asked him to buy drugs.
Defendant Hung admitted to asking his father-in-law to buy methamphetamine for him to sell retail at home. However, the defendants' actions were discovered.
Both defendants expressed remorse and asked the court to consider mitigating circumstances. Defendant Hung cited his illness and young children as reasons for requesting the lowest possible sentence.
The court ruled that the actions of the two defendants violated the law. The defendants were fully aware of their actions but committed the crime out of greed, therefore they deserve to be severely punished.
Considering that the two defendants played equal roles in this case, the court sentenced Thai Ba Hung and Vi Van Phuong each to 20 years in prison.
