Former police officer paid with his life for trafficking half a kilo of 'white goods'

"Dipped in ink"

Ha Ba Chu (34 years old), residing in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district, is the eldest son in a family whose father is a teacher. His parents created conditions for Chu to finish high school, something that not every poor Mong family can do. However, his studies were not as expected, so Ha Ba Chu decided to stay home and work on the farm.

At the age of 19, Chu got married and had children to stabilize his life. During his time living in the locality, Chu was trusted to serve as a village police officer for many terms and was honored to be admitted to the Party.

Defendant Ha Ba Chu. Photo: Tran Vu

7 years as a police officer, directly participating in propaganda, mobilizing people not to violate the law, especially drug-related crimes. However, Chu himself could not overcome the temptation ofdrugand then fall into their trap.

In April 2021, Ha Ba Chu went to Laos to celebrate Tet with relatives who had migrated there and coincidentally met a man named No Denh. From that meeting, Chu and Denh became close. When they returned to Vietnam, Chu and Denh kept in touch regularly. At the end of April 2021, Denh called Chu to say that a person in Dien Chau district had ordered 5 kg of crystal meth for 700 million VND. If Chu could sell it, he only needed to send Denh 600 million VND, and the remaining 100 million would be Chu's salary. The amount of money was so large that Ha Ba Chu lost all reason and accepted.

Having patrolled the area of ​​Nghe An’s highest mountain, Phuxailaileng, many times, Chu decided to choose this location to receive drugs. After a day of walking and climbing in the forest, Chu arrived at the meeting point and received a bag of snake carcasses containing drugs from the subject in Laos.

On April 27, 2021, while Chu was delivering drugs to a customer, he was discovered and surrounded by the Nghe An Provincial Police's anti-drug force. Although Chu fiercely resisted, the police opened fire and successfully surrounded and arrested him.

Late regret

Brought to trial for the crime of illegal drug trafficking, in court, Chu confessed to his journey of walking into the forest to receive drugs and buying many phones to facilitate the purchase and sale of “white goods”. The defendant also admitted that he was a person who understood the law, and that his drug purchase and sale was due to greed and greed for profit.

Facing the death penalty, Chu presented some mitigating circumstances such as his father being a teacher in a mountainous district, who had been awarded a medal by the Ministry of Education and Training for his contributions to education. “The defendant feels very remorseful for his actions. It is too late to say anything now, but I ask the court to consider giving him a way to live. His two children are still young,” Chu told the panel of judges.

Not a single relative attended Chu's trial. Therefore, Chu sat quietly in the middle of the large auditorium. During the deliberation, when his family was mentioned, Chu bowed his head and said: "My two children are currently in 10th and 8th grade, I feel guilty towards them... I was wrong."

Ha Ba Chu was sentenced to death for “Illegal drug trafficking”. Photo: Tran Vu

The panel of judges determined that during the investigation and trial, the defendant confessed honestly and repented; the defendant's father was awarded a commemorative medal for educational activities, and the defendant himself was commended by the authorities for his achievements in crime prevention and control, which were mitigating circumstances in the case.

However, with the amount of drugs that the defendant bought and sold being exceptionally large, the People's Court sentenced Ha Ba Chu to death for the crime of "Illegal trading of drugs".

Although he had somewhat anticipated the sentence he was about to receive, when he heard the death sentence, Ha Ba Chu was shocked, his two hands clenched on the witness stand. Being escorted to the car to return to the prison, Chu only had time to send his wife and children a message asking about their health. "I must pay for the crime I committed," Chu exclaimed in belated remorse...