Woman picks up gun while taking out the trash, takes it home and hides it

On April 24, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Thi Huong (born 1974), residing in Hong Son ward, Vinh city, for the crime of "Illegal possession of drugs”and “Illegal possession of military weapons”.

According to the indictment, around August 2022, while dumping household waste, Nguyen Thi Huong discovered a gun in a garbage truck so she picked it up and hid it.

On October 13, 2022, Huong became addicted so she went to the old bus station area in Vinh city to buy drugs to use.

Defendant Nguyen Thi Huong in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Here, Huong met a man she did not know and bought a package of heroin (more than 37 grams) from him for 10 million VND. Huong used a small amount of the purchased drugs and hid the rest in the closet.

A day later, based on a criminal complaint, the police searched Huong's residence and discovered drugs and guns hidden in the house.

During the investigation, Huong confessed that she had suffered from mental illness and was being treated at Ha Tinh Mental Hospital. The investigation security agency issued a decision to request a forensic psychiatric examination of Nguyen Thi Huong. The conclusion was that before and during the crime, Huong suffered from mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of many types of drugs and other psychoactive substances, with addiction syndrome.

At the trial, the defendant admitted all his crimes. He said he bought drugs to use gradually because he was addicted. He presented his difficult circumstances and illness to ask the court to consider reducing his sentence.

Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Nguyen Thi Huong to 8 years in prison for illegal possession of narcotics and 1 year in prison for illegal possession of military weapons. The total sentence for defendant Huong is 9 years in prison.