Drug addict couple 'invite each other' to jail for 'cooperating' in drug trafficking
(Baonghean.vn) - As soon as he was released from prison, Thuc immediately returned to his old "job" of buying and selling drugs. Thuc then hired Chin to find customers to sell his "goods". In the end, the two addicts went to prison together.
On June 18, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Vo Trong Thuc (born 1971), residing in Hung Xa commune, Hung Nguyen district, and Tran Van Chin (born 1976), residing in Nghia Thai commune, Tan Ky district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
According to the investigation agency's documents, in 2003, while working on a farm in Huong Phung commune, Huong Hoa district (Quang Tri), Thuc bought 2 kg of opium from a Lao man and hid it on his farm. In 2004, Thuc was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking.
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| Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
In September 2016, Thuc completed his prison sentence and returned to his hometown. In 2017, Thuc went to a farm in Quang Tri to get drugs and brought them back to his house in Hung Xa commune to hide with the intention of finding a seller.
In October 2019, Vo Trong Thuc met Chin at the Drug Rehabilitation Center. There, Thuc asked Chin to find someone to buy opium for 50 to 60 million VND, and would give him some spending money. Being a gambling addict, Chin agreed and then contacted an acquaintance to ask, "Do you want to buy opium?"
At around 7:00 p.m. on December 25, 2019, a customer called Chin to ask to buy drugs. Chin then contacted Thuc to bring out the drugs to sell to the customer. At 10:00 p.m. the same day, Thuc went to the meeting place and gave Chin opium. While Chin and Thuc were trading drugs for the customer, they were arrested by the Drug Department of Nghe An Police. The seized evidence was more than 1.7 kg of drugs.
At the trial, the two defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Thuc confessed that because of greed, after being released from prison, he took out drugs that he had hidden for many years to sell. As for Chin, because he was addicted to gambling and had debts, when Thuc hired him to find customers to buy drugs, he agreed.
Considering the case as a whole, the People's Court sentenced Vo Trong Thuc to 20 years in prison and Tran Van Chin to 15 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking.
