A Nghe An worker's trip back home straight to prison

On July 24, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of defendant Nguyen Ngoc Tinh (38 years old), residing in Dien Lam commune, Dien Chau district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

Tinh had been doing business in Laos for a long time. At the end of December 2022, knowing that Tinh was about to return to Vietnam, a Lao man asked to hire him to bring drugs to Vietnam to deliver to customers, then receive 160 million VND and send it back to them.

Nguyen Ngoc Tinh knew that Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh) had scanners and strict control by authorities, so he said he could not bring it. At that time, the lessee said someone would take it.drugThrough the border, when you return to Vietnam, just contact and receive the "goods".

On the afternoon of December 22, 2022, after entering Vietnam at Cau Treo border gate, Tinh walked a short distance and saw a plastic bag. Knowing that this was a bag of drugs left by the Lao people, Tinh took it home and hid it in a hilly area near his house.

The following evening, a customer proactively contacted Tinh to receive the “goods”. When Nguyen Ngoc Tinh was carrying drugs to the Yen Ly overpass area, in Dien Yen commune, he was caught red-handed by the police, including 1 heroin cake and 2 pink phien packages (with a total weight of more than 380 grams).

In court, the defendant admitted that he agreed to sell drugs to Laotians for a profit of 30 million VND. However, he was arrested before he could receive his payment. The defendant asked the court to consider reducing his sentence so that he could return to his family and children soon.

Considering that in this case the defendant had many mitigating circumstances such as honest confession, remorse, and family members who contributed to the revolution, the panel sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Tinh to 20 years in prison for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.