Father and son both in prison for heroin trafficking

On September 22, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of three defendants: Lo Pho Loan (born 1983), Lau Giong Ma (born 1965) and Lau Ba Vu (born 1996), all residing in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking”.

Among the defendants, Ma and Vu have a father-son relationship.

According to investigation documents, in December 2020, Lo Pho Loan was ordered by someone to buy 1 heroin cake for 120 million VND. This person promised to give Loan from 2 to 5 million VND after finishing the job.

Defendants Lau Giong Ma and Lau Ba Vu, father and son. Photo: Tran Vu

To have drugs to sell to customers, in mid-January 2021, Loan contacted Ma to buy 1 heroin cake and was quoted 100 million VND.

After that, Ma asked his son Lau Ba Vu to find drugs to sell. Through his previous acquaintance, Vu easily bought drugs on credit from a Laotian. After receiving the goods, Vu hid the heroin in the forest near his house.

On January 25, 2021, the defendants Ma, Loan and Vu went to the stream area in Na Ngoi commune to meet customers to buy and sell drugs. When Vu was opening the drugs to see, the police raided and caught him red-handed with evidence of 1 heroin cake (weighing 350 grams). The drug buyer took advantage of the loophole and quickly ran away.

At the trial, the defendants admitted their crimes. Ma and Vu, father and son, said that because they were poor and greedy, they decided to traffic heroin.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants’ actions were dangerous to society and violated the law. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced the three defendants: Lo Pho Loan, Lau Giong Ma, and Lau Ba Vu to 20 years in prison each for the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”./.