Stories of soldiers 'fighting' drug cases

Danger, hardship beyond words

Major Nguyen Trung Hoa is a veteran officer of the Drug and Crime Prevention Department, Command.Nghe An Provincial Border Guard. In more than 16 years of working in drug crime prevention, he has experienced hundreds of projects, large and small. For him, each project has its own hardships and dangers, along with painful lessons.

According to Major Nguyen Trung Hoa, there are two reasons why he and many other comrades are committed to the fight against drug crimes. First, the responsibility of a border guard – to protect the peace of the country's borders; second, the love for the "profession", for the job. He still remembers clearly the first time he participated in a case. That was the 345N case in 2007. In this case, Major Nguyen Trung Hoa had to "ask" the leader to participate: "If you don't let my family go to the case, when will my family have work experience"...

With the consent, in the following month, with the task of technical reconnaissance, Major Nguyen Trung Hoa continuously traveled back and forth from Vinh to Con Cuong and then Tuong Duong to meet sources, investigate and verify information and locations. The project was a great success when the border guards successfully arrested Vu Ru Tenh (in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district) with the seized evidence of 4 cakes of Heroin.

According to Major Nguyen Trung Hoa: The fight against drug crimes is extremely difficult and dangerous. To do this work, border guards must stay up all night and "befriend" slugs and leeches. For example, in the NA 532P project that took place last June, 30 officers and soldiers had to stay up all night for 4-5 days, lying in ambush in the forests of Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district to capture a subject carrying 4,000 synthetic drug pills, infiltrating from Noong Het district (Xieng Khouang province, Laos) into Vietnam.

Drug criminals often take advantage of the time between midnight and dawn to smuggle drugs across the border. To prevent and catch them, officers and soldiers are required to get into position early and wait with their eyes wide open. The border forest is full of slugs and leeches. When in ambush, slugs and leeches cling to people to suck blood, but officers and soldiers do not dare to move to avoid revealing their hiding place.

Being a border guard officer or soldier in drug prevention does not have holidays or Tet. During the recent Quy Mao Tet (2023), nearly 30 border guards from the Drug and Crime Prevention Department, the Provincial Border Guard Command and the Nhon Mai, Nam Can, and Muong Ai Border Guard Stations were not able to celebrate Tet at home but were on the border from the 26th of Tet to the 3rd day of Tet to carry out Project 122P; arresting 2 subjects carrying 12 kg of opium and 12,000 synthetic drug pills from Hua Phan province (Laos) cutting through the forest, entering Pieng Cooc village, Mai Son commune, Tuong Duong district... Or like with the NA223 project (ending in February 2023), the officers and soldiers spent 3 months investigating information and verifying the subjects. During these 3 months, they have no days off and are almost never at home.

Drug criminals are all extremely reckless and dangerous, always ready to use guns, grenades, and knives to fight back against the authorities when being surrounded and arrested. Preventing this type of crime means always facing danger. When carrying out special projects, border guards always clearly understand the mission requirement of "fighting only when safe". Each project is planned in detail, calculated very specifically and carefully to ensure absolute safety for people, weapons, etc. However, careful calculation and careful preparation are not enough. Many officers and soldiers have sacrificed or been injured while carrying out their missions.

In Nghe An, during the process of dismantling a drug trafficking and transportation case in June 2018, 2 officers and soldiers from the Nghe An Provincial Border Guard and the Department of Drug and Crime Prevention (Border Guard Command) were injured while capturing the subject. The drug criminals fiercely fought back when surrounded and arrested... In this case, the authorities controlled and arrested 1 subject, seized 20 heroin cakes, 7kg of crystal meth, 12,000 synthetic drug pills, 1 gun and 15 bullets. However, this case was considered unsuccessful as some officers and soldiers were injured.

Major Nguyen Trung Hoa confided: “Hardship, hardship, and danger have always been companions of officers and soldiers in the fight against drugs and crime. If we see danger and falter and do not stand up to fight, who will? – We must stand up because behind us is the peace of the people.”

Silently…

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hung - Head of Drug and Crime Prevention Department, CommandNghe An Provincial Border Guardsaid: At present, the situation of buying, selling, transporting drugs and drug crimes in the province is still very complicated. On the outskirts, drugs from the Golden Triangle still go through Laos and then gather in the border area of ​​Nghe An province. Drug criminals connect with domestic subjects, wait for opportunities, hire ethnic minorities in the border area who are familiar with the terrain to transport drugs across the border area, deliver goods in each transit section, and then take them to the northern provinces for consumption.

Drug criminals are very reckless and dangerous; they are ready to use hot weapons to fight back against the arresting force. In the fight against drug crimes, the border guards assigned to the task must absolutely comply with the plans of the Command and the task force. For the task to be successful, our officers must be determined, resourceful and brave... The area where the subjects are caught is often close to the border. This is a very sensitive area, and gunfire must be minimized. Therefore, when catching them, the use of professional skills and martial arts is essential. Therefore, each officer and soldier must regularly practice physical strength and martial arts every day.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hung said: From the military base, the gathering of forces to the area where the crime was planned to be fought, there were often only 2km of convenient traffic. However, to ensure secrecy during the ambush, the soldiers had to march, move in circles, cut through forests and cross mountains for 4-5 hours to get to the waiting and hiding positions. Drug criminals also often send subjects to scout and reconnoiter in advance. Any trace left behind such as shoe prints or fallen trees would cause the subjects to stop the transport and transaction. This process of cutting through forests and crossing mountains requires officers and soldiers to have very good physical strength, as well as dexterity and carefulness...

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hung shared: Personally, I and my fellow officers and soldiers of the Border Guard Department of Drug and Crime Prevention have never faltered, always determined to carry out our duties well. However, before and after, there were still moments when we did not dare to face the "truth", face our parents, wives and children. Every time we went to fight a case, we and our fellow officers and soldiers often lied to our relatives that we were just going on a normal mission, an urgent job. In addition to the secrecy of the work, we were afraid that our wives, children and parents would worry too much... And when we could no longer hide it, we did ideological work for our families, saying "there are a lot of us going, not just a few people, and we have to be absolutely safe to do it".

Border guards working in drug and crime prevention and control often “avoid” glory. After successful projects, and being awarded by the industry and local authorities, they often quietly stand behind the stage. The joy of a successful project is only shared by the commanders and officers and soldiers, not daring to “show off” to anyone… Because when standing on that glorious podium, they not only “reveal themselves” to drug criminals, but also make their relatives even more worried./.