Reckless drug trafficking trip - 3 people pay the price

Creating a cover to buy scrap to traffic drugs

Tran Thi Kinh (50 years old) and Tran Thi Lan (63 years old) are sisters, born in Dien Chau district (old). When they came of age, Kinh went to Que Phong commune (Nghe An) to do new economic activities, while Lan stayed in Duc Chau commune (formerly Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district) to live.

During the process of establishing a career in the new land, Kinh worked as a scrap collector. The job helped this woman earn a living, take care of her family and have more social relationships. But after the events: Being sentenced to 9 months in prison with a suspended sentence for the crime of "Receiving property obtained by others through crime" and being administratively punished for the act of storing, transporting and illegally trading explosives, Kinh's life became more difficult.

The hardships of the two sisters were compounded when they both shared the same fate of being widowed. After their husbands died, both had to take care of their families and their children. Under the pressure of life and debts in business, Kinh pushed his own life into a dead-end tragedy when he fell into drug trafficking. Kinh used the cover of buying scrap to trade drugs.

To realize that ambition, Kinh contacted a man named Dat (unknown background) to discuss drug trading. The two sides agreed that Kinh would buy drugs from Que Phong district (old) and bring them to Dien Chau district (old) for his sister Tran Thi Lan to hide, then sell them to Dat for 60 million VND/drug cake. In the following days, Dat transferred money to Kinh many times via bank account.

Tran Thi Kinh did not directly buy and sell drugs but instead persuaded her sister Tran Thi Lan to join. On February 1, 2024, Kinh confided to her sister: "I owe too much, I have to take a risk to earn money to pay off my debt" (meaning Kinh would go into drug trafficking to earn money to pay off her debt). After that, Kinh continued to call Lan and said: "Tomorrow I will send the goods back, you can pick them up and store them at home for me". At her sister's request, Lan agreed.

The next afternoon, the seller called to inform that he was ready to deliver the “goods”. At this time, Kinh put 106 million VND in a box of instant noodles and told his daughter to deliver it. After receiving the money, the seller instructed Kinh to go to Que Phong commune stadium to get the drugs.

At this time, Kinh called Nguyen Thi Truyen (born in 1958, residing in Que Phong commune) to ask her to pick up the package. Truyen agreed and rode her motorbike to the stadium area to pick it up and bring it back to Kinh. When he got home, Kinh told Truyen: "This is a contraband item, I don't dare take it home, you try to bring it back to Mrs. Lan and I will pay you for it and use the money to pay off the debt". Truyen asked again "What are contraband items?" Kinh said "drugs". Hearing that, Truyen was not afraid but agreed and said: "I'm old, no one will pay attention, let me take it home for you".

After that, Kinh called his sister in the lowlands to inform her that she was ready to receive the drugs, with the promise that "when I sell them, I will give you some money to spend during Tet". At about 5 pm the same day, when Nguyen Thi Truyen was delivering nearly 5 kg of drugs to Tran Thi Lan, she was discovered and caught red-handed by the police. Based on the statements of the subjects, the authorities urgently arrested Tran Thi Kinh.

The investigation agency determined that Kinh and Lan must bear criminal responsibility for buying and selling nearly 5 kg of drugs, and Truyen must bear criminal responsibility for illegally transporting nearly 5 kg of drugs.

I was sentenced to death, she was imprisoned indefinitely.

For the above crimes, Tran Thi Kinh and Tran Thi Lan were prosecuted and brought to trial for "Illegal drug trafficking", defendant Nguyen Thi Truyen was tried for "Illegal drug transportation".

At the trial, the defendants initially denied the acts of buying, selling, and transporting drugs. Defendant Lan stated that she did not know that the package contained drugs, but “only received the package for her sister.” But later, in front of the investigation agency’s documents, the defendant bowed his head and admitted his guilt, admitting that he knew that the package contained drugs for his sister.

When questioned by the jury, defendant Nguyen Thi Truyen said she agreed to transport the drugs because defendant Kinh promised to give her money. "The defendant thought she was old, few people would notice, so she could transport them safely." But all of this defendant's actions were monitored by the investigation agency. Arrested with the evidence, Truyen bowed her head and admitted her guilt. Although at the trial she initially denied her guilt, she later admitted to the actions as charged in the indictment.

This is the second time defendant Nguyen Thi Truyen has appeared in court. Previously, Truyen was sentenced to 5 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking". After being released from prison, this woman returned to her old ways despite her old age and many children and grandchildren.

The trial of the defendants became tense when defendant Kinh steadfastly denied the crime and did not admit to the crime. Kinh stated that he did not buy or sell drugs, did not direct his sister to receive drugs, and did not ask Truyen to transport nearly 5 kg of drugs. This attitude of the defendant was different from the investigation stage when Tran Thi Kinh honestly confessed and admitted to the crime.

In their final statements before the court deliberated, the defendants all cried when mentioning their children. Defendant Lan explained her situation of raising her children alone after her husband passed away. Now, her involvement in the law has made her children's future even more uncertain. She asked the court to consider leniency, to enjoy the leniency of the law so that she could have a chance to start her life over and return to her children.

The panel of judges stated that, although the defendant Tran Thi Kinh did not admit to drug trafficking, based on the investigation documents, the arrest record, the defendants’ self-confessions and the case files, there was sufficient evidence to confirm that the defendant was guilty of illegal drug trafficking. With a large amount of drugs, the defendant Tran Thi Kinh was sentenced to death by the court.

For the same crime, defendant Tran Thi Lan was sentenced to life imprisonment due to many mitigating circumstances. That was also the sentence given to defendant Nguyen Thi Truyen for the crime of "Illegally transporting narcotics".

Despite being sentenced to death, Tran Thi Kinh still left the court with a cold, indifferent look to the choking sobs of her relatives behind her. Drugs had turned the woman who used to trade scrap into a particularly serious criminal, dragging her sister and an older acquaintance into legal trouble. The family was broken, one living under sentence, the other facing death - a tragedy without end.