The gangster boss of Yen Thanh land and the huge drug trafficking ring

(Baonghean.vn) - Having been in and out of prison many times, Pham Van Hung is still not afraid. With his gangster blood and stubborn nature, he established a drug trafficking line from Laos to Vietnam.

» Carrying 20 heroin cakes, 1kg of crystal meth, using a knife to attack the police

Big brother of Yen Thanh land

In Phu Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), when mentioning Pham Van Hung (born in 1970), the gangsters always have a certain respect. Not only is he a famous boss who has been in prison many times for murder, theft, and robbery, Hung has also built an "image" of a generous and willing senior.

When hearing the news that Hung was arrested for running a huge drug trafficking ring from Laos to Vietnam, many people were secretly happy, because the debt that Hung lent them might not have to be repaid.

Drug lord Pham Van Hung at the police station. Photo: MK

More than a year ago, Pham Van Hung was targeted by detectives from the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department - PC47 (Nghe An Provincial Police). Through their work in the area, the detectives discovered that Hung had signs of unclear assets, specifically, this subject, although unemployed, became rich quickly.

Hung spent billions of dong to build houses, buy luxury cars, and often gambled and played the lottery with hundreds of millions of dong every night without shaking his hand. In particular, Hung often interacted with high-ranking subjects, subjects related to drug buying and selling and using. Many times, detectives discovered that Hung often visited areas with complicated drug problems.

Through professional measures, the detectives learned that Hung had a long criminal record and had just been released from prison in 2011. Specifically, in 1991, Hung was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the People's Court of Yen Thanh district for "Theft of property". In 1995, just after being released from prison, Hung and his accomplices committed many robberies with a reckless and daring nature. After committing the crimes, Hung fled to Dong Nai. When arrested by Yen Thanh police, Hung used a razor blade to cut his hand in an attempt to commit suicide but was saved. After that, Hung was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

“During his time in prison, Hung caused the death of a cellmate. During that time, Hung became acquainted with many dangerous criminals, which helped Hung continue to sink deeper into the path of crime later on,” said a detective.

Subject Pham Van Tung (black shirt) with evidence. Photo: MK

After returning to his hometown from prison, Hung got married and had children, but he did not work hard and only focused on partying, gambling, and lottery. Due to heavy debt, he began to think about his old acquaintances and then got involved in drug trafficking to make illegal profits.

By mid-2015, Hung had established a large drug trafficking network, with the goods mainly being imported from Laos and then sold everywhere, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. With a cautious and suspicious nature, Hung did not do business with strangers. Hung recruited Pham Van Tung (born in 1990, residing in Phu Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district), who called Hung "uncle", to directly collect the goods and distribute them to partners.

Plan to "capture" drug lord

During the course of doing business, Hung established a relationship with Lo Van Sao (commonly known as Khoi, born in 1983, residing in Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district). Khoi used to mainly exploit illegal timber, so he was very familiar with the mountainous terrain, especially the small-scale routes bordering Laos. With mutual trust, Hung assigned Khoi the task of directly collecting goods provided by Lao people in the border area.

For large shipments, Hung would go get the money from Khoi, and the money could be given to Khoi to pay the partners or Hung would pay directly. “Each week, Hung’s line consumed 1-2 heroin cakes and several kilograms of crystal meth. When the goods from Laos had not arrived yet, Hung would get them from other sources and sell them immediately without hiding them to avoid detection by the authorities,” said Major Hai.

Subject Lo Van Sao (commonly known as Khoi). Photo: MK

To destroy the drug trafficking ring led by Hung, in May 2017, Department PC47 established Project 617H. The biggest difficulty was that Hung was too smart and suspicious. With his experience in prison and understanding of the police's professional measures, Hung's drug trafficking ring operated very sophisticatedly and discreetly. Subjects like Tung and Khoi were all trusted by Hung and obeyed his instructions, so they hardly made any mistakes.

Through the process of monitoring Hung's movements as well as the way this line operates, on September 26, the detectives discovered that Hung would soon "take" a large shipment from Laos. And this time, Khoi would also be the person Hung assigned to directly pick up the goods.

At dawn on October 1, Hung and Tung each rode a motorbike, leaving their home towards Anh Son district. Arriving at Phuc Son commune, they both turned towards Cao Veu village, where Khoi was waiting. Hung did not expect that the scouts were following and monitoring all their activities. In an area deep in the forest, both received a blue backpack from Khoi, and Hung gave Khoi a paper bag. The time the two met only lasted for 5 minutes, after which each went their separate ways.

When reaching National Highway 7, passing through Nam Son Commune (Do Luong), when Tung was riding, the detectives approached and knocked him down. Although he fell painfully, Tung still tried to get up, took out a knife he had hidden in his person to fight back. However, Tung did not have the chance to attack and was immediately restrained. About 200m away, seeing Tung being arrested, Hung tried to accelerate and escape but was arrested by the detectives.

The estimated value of the drugs that the three subjects bought and sold was nearly 3 billion VND. Photo: MK

“When he was arrested, Hung was speechless because he was so surprised. Tung struggled but had no chance to escape. Immediately after that, another task force also raided the house and arrested Khoi, to the surprise of the subject,” a detective recounted. Searching the bag on Tung’s motorbike, the police discovered 20 heroin cakes, 1kg of crystal meth, 12,000 synthetic drug pills, 20,000 USD, 1 Honda SH motorbike, and 2 mobile phones. At Khoi’s house, the police also seized 70,000 USD and 300 million VND. This is the amount of money Hung gave Khoi to pay for the goods for the Lao subjects.

Initially, at the police station, all three subjects admitted to their crimes. Because they knew Hung's personality, two detectives were always there to guard him carefully, in case Hung committed suicide like the last time. According to the leader of PC47, this is the case that has collected the largest amount of drugs that the department has been able to crack down on in the past 3 years. The value of the drugs that the subjects bought and sold is estimated at nearly 3 billion VND.

Currently, the police agency is continuing to expand the investigation of the case, and at the same time completing the case file to prosecute and try the subjects according to regulations./.

Nguyen Hung