Spending 1 billion VND on drug trafficking, the older brother was sentenced to death, and his younger brother went to prison.
Within a short period, Cao Van Tung twice purchased nearly 9 kg of drugs from an individual abroad. Tung also persuaded his younger brother to join him in trafficking these prohibited substances.
On November 28, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial to hear the cases of four defendants: Cao Van Tung (born in 1974) and his younger brother Cao Van Tuan (born in 1983), both residing in Truong Vinh ward (Nghe An); Phan The Quang (born in 1974, residing in Hue City), and Bui Hai Trung (born in 1987, residing in Ha Tinh) on charges of...Illegal trafficking of narcotics.
The case file shows that during his time serving his prison sentence, Cao Van Tung became acquainted with Phan The Quang and Ha Ba Vu (whose identities are unknown). After their release from prison, Quang and Tung returned to their hometown, while Vu emigrated to Laos to live.
Some time later, knowing that Vu was in Laos, Tung tried to contact him and order drugs to sell for profit. From June to August 2024, Cao Van Tung bought drugs twice.
In June 2024, Tung agreed to purchase 6 blocks of heroin, 1 kg of methamphetamine, and 1 kg of ketamine from Vu for a total of 1.06 billion VND to resell for profit. Tung paid a deposit of 200 million VND, then invited Quang to contribute another 200 million VND to traffic drugs.
On June 30, 2024, Tung drove Quang to Ho Chi Minh Highway (in the former Vu Quang district, Ha Tinh province) to receive drugs from Vu.
On their way back, the two suspects were stopped by a police checkpoint in Ha Tinh province. At this point, Tung drove away, stopping in Huong Son commune, throwing the drugs into a bush, and escaping.
After a failed drug trafficking attempt, in August 2024, Tung ordered 4 blocks of heroin, 2 kg of methamphetamine, 1 kg of ketamine, and 10 packets of "happy water" from Vu. Because he hadn't prepared enough money, Tung sent his younger brother, Cao Van Tuan, to Vu's house as a hostage while he waited to gather enough funds to retrieve the drugs.
Later, Tung invited Bui Hai Trung to accompany him to receive the drugs and act as a lookout. On the morning of August 28, 2024, Tung drove a car while Trung rode a motorbike, departing from Vinh to the mountainous area to receive the drugs. Upon arriving at the location indicated by Tuan and Vu, Tung and Trung retrieved the backpack containing the drugs. On their way back, the suspects were arrested by the police.
The investigating agency determined that Cao Van Tung was responsible for two instances of buying and selling nearly 9 kg of drugs. Quang was responsible for buying and selling over 4 kg of drugs. Trung and Tuan were responsible for assisting Tung in buying and selling over 4.8 kg of drugs.
At the trial, the defendant Tung admitted to the crime, stating that he committed it out of greed. He confessed to spending over 1 billion VND on drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, initially, defendants Tuan and Trung denied assisting Tung in drug trafficking. Tuan claimed he went to Laos to undergo drug rehabilitation, not to buy drugs; however, both defendants later admitted to the crime.
The panel of judges determined that this was an exceptionally serious case, with the defendant Tung playing the main role and being a dangerous repeat offender, therefore he was sentenced to death.
Defendant Quang committed the crime in a secondary role, assisting and contributing money with Tung to buy drugs, and was therefore sentenced to life imprisonment. Defendants Tuan and Trung, who committed the crime in a secondary role as accomplices, were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
