Agreeing to clear debt with drugs, woman pays a heavy price

On May 12, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance trial of three defendants: Tran Van Duong (born 1993), residing in Long Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district; Hoang Van Duc (born 1995) and Hoang Thi Ha (born 1995), both residing in Nghi Kieu commune, Nghi Loc district (Nghe An) for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.

The indictment shows that while performing cosmetic surgery for clients, Hoang Thi Ha met a man named Dung, from Quang Tri (specific background unknown). In January 2024, Ha lent Dung 30 million VND.

The agreed time had passed but Dung had not paid yet, so Ha took a bus to Quang Tri to collect the debt. When they met, Dung said he had no money to pay and wanted to give Ha 5 packages of pink drugs to clear the debt.

Ha agreed, so she took 5 packages of drugs and took a bus home. Ha hid the drugs on the edge of the rice field behind her house, waiting for the right time to sell them for profit.

On May 25, 2024, Hoang Van Duc contacted Ha to buy heroin, and this woman reported 5 packages of drugs for 28 million VND.

At noon of the same day, at the foot of the overpass at the intersection between Nghi Trung and Nghi Long communes, Nghi Loc district, Ha sold more than 93 grams of drugs to Duc. Duc then resold the drugs to Tran Van Duong for 30 million VND.

After buying the drugs, Duong took 5 pills and sold them to customers for 500,000 VND. Next, when Duong was about to sell 10 pink pills to customers, he was arrested by Yen Thanh district police. Searching Duong's residence, the police seized the remaining drugs.

Expanding the investigation, on September 27, 2024, the police arrested Hoang Van Duc. On November 6, 2024, Hoang Thi Ha was urgently arrested by the police.

At the trial, the defendants admitted their crimes and expressed remorse. Defendant Ha admitted that the source of the drugs was because when he went to collect a debt, people asked to pay off the debt with drugs.

The remaining defendants admitted that they traded drugs out of greed, even though they knew it was illegal. They asked the court to consider reducing their sentences so they could return home soon to take care of their families and children.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Tran Van Duong, Hoang Van Duc, and Hoang Thi Ha each to 18 years in prison.