'Investing' more than half a billion in drug trafficking, two friends sentenced to life in prison
Nguyen Ngoc Ty and Nguyen The Anh are not only friends but have also been in prison many times for drug use. However, both of them still reoffend. This time, Ty spent more than half a billion VND to trade drugs and invited his close friends to join him.
On July 26, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendants Nguyen Ngoc Ty (born 1996), residing in Cua Nam ward, Vinh city and Nguyen The Anh (born 1996), residing in Le Loi ward, Vinh city for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
Both defendants have bad records, having been in prison many times. Ty was imprisoned twice for drug-related crimes, and The Anh was imprisoned three times.
According to the indictment, in 2019, while serving his sentence at Detention Center No. 6 of the Ministry of Public Security, Ty met and became acquainted with a Laotian man named Cu. The two agreed that when they were released from prison, they would contact each other to buy and sell drugs.
On April 1, 2023, Ty called Cu to order 3 kg of Ketamine for 550 million VND, paid and agreed to deliver the drugs 2 days later.
After the agreement was made, Ty called The Anh and Nguyen Hong Quan (born in 1995, residing in Vinh City) to invite them to come along to hold the drugs for sale.
According to the appointment, on the evening of April 3, 2023, the three of them met at a gas station and then departed for the Cau Treo border gate area (Ha Tinh). Here, Ty went to the meeting point to receive drugs, while Quan and The Anh stopped by the side of the road.
After receiving 3 kg of drugs, Ty gave them to The Anh to hold. A moment later, he gave the drugs to Quan to transport and each drove home. During the trip, The Anh and Quan took turns transporting the drugs.
At 11:30 p.m. the same day, when the subjects reached the DH16 flood crossing road (in Trung Phuc Cuong commune, Nam Dan district), they were discovered by the Nghe An anti-drug task force.
At this time, The Anh immediately threw the drugs into the rice field and tried to escape with his accomplices. However, Nguyen The Anh and Nguyen Ngoc Ty were arrested, while Nguyen Hong Quan quickly escaped and is currently wanted.
At the trial, both defendants admitted to their crimes. Defendant Ty said he spent 550 million VND to smuggle drugs to sell for profit. Defendant Anh said he was invited by a friend to participate in transporting drugs to Nghe An.
The panel of judges determined that in this case, the mastermind was defendant Ty, and The Anh was an active participant, so both had equal roles. The defendants’ actions were dangerous to society and should be dealt with severely. However, some mitigating circumstances for the defendants, such as their honest confession and remorse, should also be considered.
Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Ty and Nguyen The Anh to life in prison.
