Woman sentenced for trafficking heroin to addicts

On August 5, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a criminal trial of defendant Lo Thi Van (born 1986), residing in Giang Son Tay commune, Do Luong district, for the crime of“Illegal drug trafficking”.

Lo Thi Van was born and raised in Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district, and married a man in Giang Son Tay commune. Taking advantage of her familiarity with the area, Van connected with a number of people from the border area to traffic drugs for sale for profit.

On the morning of April 16, 2024, Van took a bus to the Kim Son town market intersection, Que Phong district. Van took a motorbike taxi to the Nam Giai intersection, Chau Kim commune, then continued walking for about 2 km and met a Mong man sitting on the side of the road. Van discussed and offered to buy 10 packages of opium for 21 million VND.

The man went into the forest and returned about 15 minutes later to deliver the drugs to Van. After receiving the “goods”, Van put them in her bag and took a taxi back home.

At around 4:00 p.m. the same day, when Van had just stepped out of the passenger bus, he was discovered and caught red-handed by the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department, Nghe An Provincial Police, and 2,000 drug pills weighing more than 207 grams were seized.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant said that because she needed money to spend, she trafficked drugs to resell to addicts in the area. Lo Thi Van said that she intended to retail each pink pill for 60,000 to 80,000 VND.

The female defendant presented her difficult circumstances, divorced from her husband, and two young children, asking the court to consider reducing her sentence.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were dangerous to society. However, it was also necessary to consider some mitigating circumstances for the defendant, such as her honest confession and remorse. Therefore, the court sentenced Lo Thi Van to 20 years in prison.