Police captain's conversation made drug lord drop grenade and surrender

On October 3, Vinh City Police (Nghe An) were still detaining Le Ngoc Son (33 years old) after convincing him to surrender. Son is facing a series of charges such as Resisting a Law Enforcement Officer, Illegal Possession and Use of Military Weapons, Intentional Destruction of Property, Illegal Trading and Transporting of Drugs, etc.

Son was the one who held a grenade and barricaded himself in the house for more than half a day after the police arrived to execute the emergency detention order. Captain Pham Van Hoi, the person who directly talked to Son and made him drop the grenade, said that during this siege, he was assigned to command the mobile police squad.

Captain Hoi (third from left) received a reward of 2 million VND for his achievements. Photo: Tien Hung

After arriving at the scene, he quickly assigned soldiers to approach the target, ready to attack when ordered. The mobile police force mobilized 35 officers and soldiers, including 12 special police officers whose tasks were to deploy into many working groups such as: surrounding the house; arranging sniper teams; infiltration teams, police dogs...

Realizing that the two people barricading themselves in the house were “particularly dangerous and very reckless” elements, while they were holding grenades in their hands, ready to explode at any time, for many hours the authorities had to use loudspeakers to persuade Son to surrender. His girlfriend, father, siblings and friends were brought in to persuade him, but he still showed a reckless attitude, challenging the authorities. Nghe An Provincial Police had to mobilize more than 200 people, led by Colonel Nguyen Manh Hung – Deputy Director, Head of the Investigation Police Agency, directly commanded at the scene.

Text messages exchanged between Captain Hoi and Son. Photo: Duc Vu.

After these conversations, Son still refused to surrender. Photo: Duc Vu.

The house where Son was barricaded had two floors and an attic above. After the incident, a special police force of three soldiers quickly took over the attic. The police were also gradually approaching the first floor.

Captain Hoi said that when it was getting dark, the police realized that only talking directly could convince Son to surrender. Captain Pham Van Hoi was assigned to go to the first floor of the house and speak loudly to talk to Son. During the conversation, although they could not persuade him, the police did get Son's phone number. At this time, the young captain kept calling Son. However, this action still did not make the drug lord waver.

Son at the investigation agency. Photo: Tien Hung

By 11pm, Son was showing signs of fatigue, so he took the initiative to text Captain Hoi. During the conversation, Son said he wanted to meet his adoptive father. “I’ve never met you before. We’ve never talked. But I believe you’ll be clear-headed. If you need a drinking buddy, come with me,” one of the text messages Captain Hoi sent to Son read. However, after a series of text messages back and forth, Le Ngoc Son still refused to surrender. On the contrary, he became even more dangerous by using a gas cylinder and a grenade right on the stairs to the second floor and threatening to detonate if he saw any police.

At this time, around the house, the police were preparing the second option, which was a direct attack. Explosives, tear gas, snipers, fire fighters, and ambulances were all prepared and ready to take position.

Captain Pham Van Hoi. Photo: Tien Hung

At around 11:30 p.m., Captain Hoi was assigned to leave his weapon behind and approach the second floor to meet Son to talk as a final move to convince him. “Can we talk? Put down your weapon and let us talk properly,” Captain Hoi shouted from the first floor. On the second floor, Son remained silent. Calmly climbing the stairs and approaching the door, Captain Hoi saw Son holding a grenade and a gas cylinder in front of him.

“You’re still young, you have to calm down, don’t do anything stupid that will affect your family. I trust you, that’s why I came here, put down your weapons and surrender,” Captain Hoi said to Son, slowly approaching him. “I left my guns outside, I’m going alone. As for the armor, if you want, I’ll take it off and let you wear it, okay?”

The Audi car had its window broken by Son. Photo: Tien Hung

After about 10 minutes of listening to Captain Hoi talk about his girlfriend and Son's family, he began to relax. Son then asked for a cigarette and asked the police to withdraw before he would come down. Near midnight, when more than 200 policemen proactively loosened the siege, Son dropped the grenade and went down with Captain Hoi to surrender.

“This was the final nerve-wracking moment,” said Colonel Nguyen Manh Hung. “At that time, we had to admit that we were very worried. We weren’t sure how Son would react when the police got close. He could commit suicide or throw a grenade or detonate a gas tank. It was very dangerous. But comrade Hoi did a good job of negotiating to bring Son into line and to perceive the situation in his own way. And then successfully convinced him.”

In response to this achievement, the Director of Nghe An Provincial Police decided to award a reward worth 2 million VND to Captain Pham Van Hoi.

Police cordoned off the scene on October 1. Photo: Pham Bang

Previously, on the morning of October 1, when Vinh City Police came to Le Ngoc Son's house on Hong Bang Street (Le Mao Ward) to execute an order to detain him in an emergency, he suddenly resisted, and together with his friend Hoang Ngoc Sinh, pulled out 2 grenades from a drawer to threaten them, then barricaded himself in the house. Son had been in prison for illegal possession of drugs.

After his sentence expired, he was accused of leading a drug trafficking ring from Laos to Nghe An and then to the southern provinces for consumption. When this case was broken up, Nghe An police arrested 4 people. Knowing this information, Son quickly fled to China and then to Germany. Recently, he secretly returned to Vietnam. The police secretly followed Son's movements. On September 24, due to a conflict believed to be related to drugs, Son took 2 swords to a garage in Nghi Phu commune and broke the glass of an Audi. The police then secretly examined the scene and issued an arrest warrant for Le Ngoc Son for the act of intentionally destroying property when the incident occurred.

After this incident, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee also awarded the Provincial Police 50 million VND.