Addicts set up camps in the deep forest to sell opium.

On November 11, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Ngan Van Mao (born 1975), residing in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district, for the crime of "Illegal trading"narcotics”.

Mao is a long-term drug addict. On the afternoon of May 4, 2021, Mao was sitting in his shack in Dua village, Luong Minh commune, when two men from Yen Thanh district came to buy drugs. The two customers agreed to buy 5 packages of pink drugs from Mao for 16.5 million VND, paying 4 million VND in advance.

Defendant Mao at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

To get drugs to sell to customers, Mao walked into a nearby forest area to meet a Mong man and bought 5 packages of drugs (weighing more than 107 grams) for 15 million VND. Mao gave him 4 million VND in advance, and promised to pay the remaining amount when he sold the "goods".

At 8:00 p.m. the same day, at the hill area of ​​Dua village, Luong Minh commune, when Mao was selling drugs to customers, he was raided by Ky Son district police and Nam Can border gate customs department, catching them red-handed. The two drug buyers took advantage of the loophole and escaped.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime as charged in the indictment. The defendant stated that he was addicted to drugs and needed money, so when someone asked him to buy drugs, he agreed. Mao explained that he was illiterate, had little knowledge of the law, and lived in a drug “hot spot” to ask the court to consider reducing his sentence.

After considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Ngan Van Mao to 20 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking.