Barricaded in car, used oil and sand to destroy 'white goods'

On October 25, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the defendants Luong Thi Sinh (born in 1992, residing in Dong Van commune, Que Phong district); Vu Duy Kien (born in 1990, residing in Minh Thanh commune, Quang Yen town, Quang Ninh) and Nguyen Van Quyet (born in 1987, residing in Dai Yen ward, Ha Long city, Quang Ninh) to trial for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

The three defendants Sinh, Kien and Quyet at the trial. Photo: An Quynh

According to the indictment, due to prior acquaintance, on March 19, 2019, Kien called Sinh to order 1 kg of crystal meth and 1 kg of ketamine and Sinh agreed.

On the morning of March 20, 2019, Sinh went to Thong Thu border gate (Que Phong district) and met a Lao woman who asked to buy the above quantity of goods. This woman offered 300 million VND for 1 kg of ketamine and 200 million VND for 1 kg of crystal meth. Sinh reported this to Kien.

Kien then borrowed 100 million VND from Nguyen Van Quyet and hired Quyet to take him to Nghe An for 5 million VND. At around 9:00 p.m. on March 20, 2019, Kien got into the car with a black backpack and a red plastic bucket containing engine oil, salt, sand, etc. with the intention of destroying the drugs if discovered.

Arriving at Que Phong district, Kien gave Sinh 350 million VND. Two days later, Sinh delivered the drugs to Kien, then Kien and Quyet got in the car and headed towards Quang Ninh.

When the two were traveling through Quynh Vinh commune, Hoang Mai town, the police stopped the car for inspection. Kien and Quyet barricaded themselves in the car, then poured the drugs into a bucket that had been prepared in advance to disperse them.

Through examination, authorities determined that the amount of solid crystals mixed in the bucket contained 440.71 grams of crystal meth and 1,031.01 grams of ketamine.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants' actions were contemptuous of the law and needed to be severely punished to set an example, so they sentenced Vu Duy Kien and Luong Thi Sinh to life in prison and Nguyen Van Quyet to 15 years in prison.