The Orphan's Path to Fallenness

The Pit of Addiction

Luong Van Linh (born in 1997), residing in Binh Chuan commune, Con Cuong district, is the youngest child in a family of 5 siblings. His father died early, and his family was in difficult circumstances, so Linh dropped out of school after finishing 3rd grade. Not going to school, lacking the care and guidance of adults, Linh followed bad friends to participate in useless games.

From the times he went into the forest to work on wood, Linh was invited by his friends and out of curiosity, he tried drugs. After those "trials", Linh threw himself into it.drugand go along with this deadly substance. All the money he earns from his work, he uses to support his deadly hobby.

Gradually, Linh fell deeper and deeper into addiction. Linh said that at first, he tried to hide it so his mother wouldn't be sad. But later, when his drug use increased, Linh couldn't hide it anymore. Knowing that his mother was sad, he tried many times to quit himself but was unsuccessful.

Defendant Luong Van Linh. Photo: Tran Vu

On the family side, after discovering Luong Van Linh was addicted to drugs, the family and the authorities sent Linh to a compulsory drug rehabilitation center. After 2 years of rehabilitation at the center, Linh returned home but could not break free from drugs. His addiction became more and more severe and he had no money to buy drugs, so Linh often asked for heroin to use.

One place Linh often went to beg for drugs was the forest area of ​​Ban Dua, in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district. During his trips to beg for drugs, Linh met two men named Quy and Tuan.

On the evening of August 18, 2022, Linh went to the old place to ask for drugs and met a drug addict friend. At this time, Quy proposed to hire Linh to deliver drugs and would receive 10 million VND as a salary. With his friend giving him drugs to use and promising to pay him a handsome salary, Linh immediately agreed. Immediately after, Quy drove a motorbike carrying Linh, carrying the drugs, to deliver them to the customer. After hiding in the bushes for a while, at 10:00 p.m. the same day, Linh alone brought many packages of drugs to deliver to the customer who was waiting nearby and was arrested by the police. While Linh was arrested with more than 377 grams of evidence, the drug buyer and Quy quickly fled the scene. Linh was prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".

Please reduce the sentence so that I can go home and take care of my mother

At the trial held on December 27, 2022, no relatives of the defendant attended. Before the trial took place, Luong Van Linh opened up about his family and his mistakes: “My father passed away when I was young, so I only have my mother. Today, my mother must be busy, so she did not come to court. I realize that I am unfilial because I have made my mother sad many times.”

During the trial, when questioned about the motive for the crime, Linh said he had been addicted to drugs for many years. After failing to quit, Linh had tried to quit drugs by working in the South. As if to prove his words were valid, Linh pointed to the jagged wounds on his head and said they were the result of an accident while working on a construction project.

According to Linh, while working on a construction project, the defendant was unfortunately hit by a falling scaffolding on his head. After nearly a month of hospitalization, his health was affected, so he had to return to his hometown to live with his family. When he returned home, every time he was sad, he thought about drugs. Thus, the vicious cycle of addiction continued to haunt him. Many times he wanted to break away from it, but drugs were like a magic spell, and once he was hooked, it was not easy to escape. Regarding the 10 million VND promised to be paid, the defendant said he had not received it.

Linh expressed remorse for his crime. Photo: Tran Vu

The Procuracy representing the prosecution at court argued that the defendant was a person with full cognitive capacity, the ability to control behavior, and was of legal age. The defendant was fully aware that the illegal transportation of narcotics was strictly prohibited by law and condemned by society. However, for the sake of illegal profits, the defendant disregarded the law and morality, transported narcotics to sell to many other people, causing disaster for society. The defendant's actions indirectly caused health damage, economic loss, and negatively affected the family happiness of many other people.

In his final words in court, Linh knew he was wrong. The defendant felt remorseful and sorry towards his family, especially his mother who was heartbroken over her spoiled child. Luong Van Linh asked the court for leniency so that he could return home soon to take care of and show his gratitude to his mother.

During the jury's deliberations, Linh repeatedly wiped away his tears and admitted that he was an unfilial son for causing his mother grief for many years. When asked if he truly repented and realized his mistakes, Linh choked up and nodded. The defendant admitted that for drug addicts, "taking drugs is easy, quitting is hard." But if they continue to use drugs, sooner or later they will be in trouble with the law.

Falling into the path of drug addiction, blinded by the profits from drug trafficking, Luong Van Linh tied his youth and future to prison with a 20-year sentence. The sentence not only made Linh pay the price but also brought great pain to the mother who had worked hard all her life for her children.

Hopefully, after a long period of paying the price in prison and giving up drugs, Linh will be sober enough to realize his mistakes, awaken himself to strive to reform, soon return to rebuild his life, and fulfill his wish to repay his mother, even though it is a bit late.