Couple from Thai Nguyen to Nghe An carrying white goods

On the morning of August 8, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendants Luu Van Be (born 1960), residing in Hoa Thuong commune, Dong Hy district (Thai Nguyen) and Ngoc Van Le (born 1957), residing in La Hien commune, Vo Nhai district (Thai Nguyen) for the crime of "Illegally transporting narcotics".

According to the investigation agency's documents, on April 13, 2019, Be called Le and said: "I will bring the motorbike to the fish pond and return it to you." The next afternoon, Ngoc Van Le drove the motorbike to Be's fish pond in Hoa Trung commune, Dong Hy district. When they met, Be said to Le: "Someone hired me to go to Nghe An to transport goods (meaning drugs) to Hanoi, do you want to go?". Le said "if you want to go, then go."

Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Early in the morning of April 15, Nguyen Van Thang, residing in Thai Nguyen City (according to Be, he was the person who hired him to transport the drugs) drove a car carrying Be to Thong Thu Commune, Que Phong District (Nghe An). Here, Thang showed Be where the drugs were hidden so that Be could transport them for him.

After that, the two went to Thanh Hoa City. On the way, Be called Le and said: "Tonight, take a bus to Thanh Hoa City to go with me to Nghe An to get a heroin cake to take to Hanoi. They will pay 12 million VND." Le agreed. When Thang and Be arrived in Thanh Hoa City, they rented a room to stay.

At about 1:30 a.m. on April 17, Ngoc Van Le arrived in Thanh Hoa City. Be picked him up and took him to a motel. At 7 a.m. the same day, Be drove a motorbike carrying Le to a marker post in Thong Thu commune. Here, Be stopped the motorbike and went to the location where the drugs were hidden, where Thang had previously shown him how to get a brick of drugs and give it to Le to hold. Then, he drove the motorbike to Thai Nguyen.

At about 8:50 p.m. the same day, when the two were traveling to Hop Thanh hamlet, Yen Hop commune (Quy Hop), Nghe An police asked them to stop the car for inspection and discovered Ngoc Van Le holding a heroin cake weighing 350.35 grams on his left thigh.

In court, the two defendants admitted all their crimes. Be and Le confessed that although they knew that transporting drugs was against the law, they agreed to transport the drugs because they were greedy for the 12 million VND. According to the defendants’ statements, before being arrested, they had not yet received the 12 million VND.

In this case, the investigation agency determined that there was also a man named Nguyen Van Thang, who according to Luu Van Be, hired Be to transport drugs. The investigation agency took statements and confronted Thang and Be, but Thang did not admit it, so there was not enough basis to handle criminal responsibility.

Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Luu Van Be to 20 years in prison and Ngoc Van Le to 18 years in prison for "Illegal transportation of drugs".