The price a young man in the highlands had to pay for carrying drugs for 50 million VND in Nghe An

Brain-twisting moments!

Recalling the last days of 2018, Major Nguyen The Minh - Captain of Task Force No. 1 - Task Force PCMT No. 2 - Coast Guard Command remembers the bitter cold, there were days when his teammates had to sit in the deep forest, eating bread just to grasp the situation of the subjects.

Having understood the situation in the mountainous districts of western Nghe An around the time of Tet, addicts are in dire need of drugs to serve their “year-end parties”. The “brokers” hunt for lucrative sources of drugs to smuggle back for a little commission, which is also the time when the authorities step in, monitoring their every move.

Through intelligence work, the detectives discovered a drug trafficking ring with a large quantity from Laos to Ky Son district and then transported to the southern provinces for consumption by sea through Cua Lo Port.

With the necessary expertise, the soldiers determined that to destroy the drug ring and at the same time capture the ringleader, careful and detailed preparation was needed. Therefore, the project named LM2212 was born from that, with the determination to destroy the illegal drug trafficking ring by sea.

From the previous information that the detectives had, the subject Va Ba Phenh (born in 1980), residing in Muong Long commune, Ky Son district, Nghe An province, was the subject who regularly transported illegal goods in the above line. And Ba Phenh was originally a Mong ethnic, all the routes of movement in the Ky Son mountains and forests seemed to have been engraved in his mind since childhood, plus the sophistication due to many times helping bad guys transport goods, so Phenh was identified as a dangerous and key subject in Project LM2212.

Subject and Ba Phenh after being caught red-handed. Photo: An Quynh

As predicted, early in the morning, he immediately set off down the plains to meet other “traders”. Many working groups were ordered to lie in wait along the route he could take, in case they changed their plans. The scouts were ordered to change their clothes, disguise themselves as passersby, drive cars and motorbikes to follow, and every 10 km or so, change to another group to follow Phenh to Vinh city.

The price to pay for the "white death" line

At around 6:00 p.m. on December 21, 2018, Va Ba Phenh was present at Block 10, Nghi Thuy Ward, Cua Lo Town. When Phenh had brought goods into Cua Lo Port to prepare for transactions with other "traders", the Task Force determined that this was an opportunity to capture the entire net, because this location was quite deserted, and moreover, when he was arrested, it would not cause chaos to many people like when he was on the national highway. Many detectives mobilized to block all roads, surrounding the port area.

The opportunity was ripe, as soon as they delivered the goods, the detectives rushed in to control and seized at the scene 6 rectangular cakes measuring 16 cm x 12 cm x 2 cm, containing 2,106.81 grams of white powder, which Phenh confessed was heroin.

It is known that 1 kg of drugs bought from Laos costs about 300 million VND, and if bought from a general agent, it is even cheaper. When entering Vietnam, the subjects divide it into retail sales and can make 4 times more profit. With the above amount of drugs, it is estimated that the subjects spent about 600 million VND, but earned huge profits if they succeeded.

At the police investigation agency, Phenh confessed that at the end of 2017, while out for a walk, Phenh met a man named Nhenh. Nhenh promised that when he had any work, he would hire Phenh to do it so that Phenh could have money to spend.

By the end of 2018, Nhenh asked the defendant to transport 6 heroin cakes to Cua Lo town, and after that Nhenh would pay Phenh 50 million VND for the job. Seeing that the job was easy and the pay was high, Phenh immediately agreed.

After reaching an agreement, the two went to a small motel in Le Loi ward (Vinh city) to meet a man named Sinh. After Nhenh and Sinh finished talking, Nhenh gave Phenh a bag containing drugs and the three of them took a bus to Cua Lo town.

Hom market area (block 10, Nghi Thuy ward, Cua Lo town) where Phenh was arrested while delivering goods. Photo: An Quynh

On December 21, 2018, when Phenh, Nhenh, and Sinh had just gotten off the car in front of Hom Market gate, in block 10, Nghi Thuy ward, Cua Lo town, when they were bringing goods to Cua Lo Port tourist area to prepare for the transaction, detectives approached and caught them red-handed. At the time of arrest, Nhenh and Sinh took advantage of the loophole to escape while Phenh was checked by the authorities. Through examination, the 6 rectangular blocks in the bag that Phenh carried with him were 2,106.81 grams of heroin.

After 5 months of investigation, on May 14, 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial for defendant Va Ba Phenh (born in 1980), residing in Muong Long commune, Ky Son, Nghe An, for the crime of illegally transporting drugs. Throughout the trial, defendant Phenh did not dare to look up at his relatives, only his uncle attended. Just because of a little greed, Phenh traded the rest of his life for only 50 million VND for entertainment services.

And Ba Phenh was brought to trial for the crime of “illegally transporting drugs”. Photo: An Quynh

At the trial, the panel of judges determined: This is a dangerous act for society and needs to be severely punished by law. However, seeing that the defendant Phenh had confessed honestly, the decision was based on mitigating circumstances and sentenced the defendant Va Ba Phenh to life in prison. As for the two subjects, Nhenh and Sinh, because their backgrounds are not yet known, the police investigation agency has no basis to prosecute them.

Lessons learned

In his final words at the trial, Phenh was on the verge of tears, begging for a reduced sentence. He was angry at Phenh, but he also felt sorry for him, because his limited awareness, greed, and laziness caused Phenh to be sucked into the spiral of drugs. Taking advantage of the ethnic minorities who do not want to work and only want to get rich quickly, the "brokers" used all kinds of tricks, from taking care of their family's life to simply promising to transport tens of millions of dong. It was really hard for those "transporters" not to accept the lucrative promise. They were willing to risk going through forests and mountains to become "backpackers" to carry goods.

The truth in the mountainous areas of western Nghe An is that many ethnic minorities are arrested for buying, selling and transporting illegal drugs. After the investigation, it is the ethnic minorities who were hired like Phenh who are the ones to be blamed.

Western Nghe An border area. Photo: Google Maps

“We’re going to die anyway, we’re going to die from hunger. It’s better to go out and eat than to stay home and starve to death.” This wrong thinking has led many people to go to prison for drugs, but in the villages, the next generation still follows the previous generation, as if poverty makes them not afraid of “drugs,” not afraid of death.

Hopefully, the high price paid for Phenh's ignorance will be a wake-up call, limiting the heartbreaking incident for ethnic minorities in the highlands facing the "lucrative" profits from "white death".