Two neighbors invited each other to go sell 'white goods'
(Baonghean.vn) - Lo Van Ha and Lu Van Thai, both living in Que Phong district, were long-time drug addicts. Because they lacked money, the two friends came up with a plan to buy some "goods" to sell for profit, and if they couldn't, they would use them together.
On October 23, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought two defendants, Lo Van Ha (born in 1982) and Lu Van Thai (born in 1990), both residing in Lim village, Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district, Nghe An, on the charge of "Illegal drug trafficking".
According to the case file: At noon on June 5, 2019, Lu Van Thai went to Lo Van Ha's house, and together they discussed contributing 8 million VND to go to Tri Le commune (Que Phong district) to buy heroin to sell for profit.
At around 3 p.m. that same day, Lo Van Ha drove his motorbike to Tri Le commune first. On the way, he met a man and asked, “Do you know where to buy heroin?” The man nodded and asked how much Ha wanted to buy. Ha gave the man all the money she had, 8 million VND, and told him that there were still people who wanted to buy more.
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| Defendants Lo Van Ha and Lu Van Thai at the trial (from left to right). Photo: An Quynh |
When Thai arrived, he saw Ha said she had spent 8 million VND and immediately gave her all her money. After waiting for a while, the man returned and gave Ha and Thai a black plastic bag containing a package of drugs. In addition, he also gave the two defendants a small package to try.
Then they both rode their motorbikes back home, and Ha hid the package of drugs under a jackfruit tree in her backyard. The next day, a man called Ha and asked, “Do you have any for sale?” Ha said, “Yes.”
After agreeing, the two immediately agreed to deliver the goods to Tan Lac town (Quy Chau). However, when Thai and Ha went to Tan Lac town, they could not contact the other person, so they returned. When they passed through Khe Lan village, Chau Hanh commune, the police patrolled and discovered and confiscated a black plastic bag containing 2 packages of white crystals. Through examination: The solid sample collected from Lo Van Ha and Lu Van Thai was a drug weighing 63.195 grams.
At the trial, the two defendants admitted that they had discussed buying drugs to sell for profit because they lacked money. The money they had to buy the drugs was stolen from their families.
The panel of judges determined that the actions of the two defendants were extremely serious and required severe punishment to set an example for the community. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the decision was made to sentence Lo Van Ha and Lu Van Thai each to 15 years in prison for the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”.
