Drug ring disguised as motorbike taxi at Bac Vinh Bus Station exposed

The cover of the motorbike taxi driver

Dau Van Tuan (39 years old), from Than Linh commune, Nghe An, after graduating from high school like many other young people, he went to the city to look for job opportunities. To make it easier for him to work as a motorbike taxi driver in the Bac Vinh bus station area, Tuan rented a small room nearby. Every day, this young man often picks up and drops off passengers at the bus station area, where many people from all over come.

Working in a complex environment with many temptations, and with a playful nature, Tuan got involved in drugs without realizing it. At first, it was just a few trials, then the motorbike taxi driver became an addict. To serve his addiction, Tuan had to spend a large amount of money to buy drugs. When he did not have enough money to satisfy his drug highs, he fell deeper into the path of trafficking the deadly substance, which is strictly prohibited by law.

In order to have a source of “goods” to sell, Tuan contacted a woman in Hanoi named Tran Thi Chanh (born in 1969). Chanh is a widow, with many years of drug addiction. Having no stable job, when a customer asked to buy drugs, this woman immediately went to find a source of “goods”.

On December 30, 2024, Chanh went to the Den Lu Lake area (Hanoi) to buy from a man of unknown origin 1 heroin tree, 1 amount of crystal meth and 6 packages of pink phien for 83 million VND. After buying the drugs, Chanh informed Tuan that he had the "goods" and set a time for the transaction.

Upon receiving the information, Tuan immediately transferred 45 million VND to Chanh to buy a heroin tree. After that, Tuan invited his friend from the same hometown, roommate and also a drug addict named Nguyen Thanh Sy (born in 1989) to go to Hanoi. Hearing his friend's invitation, Sy agreed.

That same day, the couple took a bus to Hanoi to meet Chanh to receive the drugs. After buying the “goods”, they both took a bus to their rented room in Nghe An. To facilitate the retail sale of drugs to addicts, the subjects divided the drugs into many small packages and put them in plastic straws.

The next day, like any other day, Tuan drove his motorbike to the bus station. But unlike the previous times, today the motorbike taxi driver also added more plastic straws to sell to drug addicts. However, Tuan’s actions were discovered by the investigation agency, who arrested him and the evidence.

Expanding the investigation, the authorities arrested Nguyen Thanh Sy and Tran Thi Chanh. During the search of Chanh's residence, the police discovered more packages of drugs that the subject had previously purchased. In this case, Chanh must bear criminal responsibility for the purchase and sale of two types of drugs with a total weight of more than 182 grams. Dau Van Tuan and Nguyen Thanh Sy must bear responsibility for the purchase and sale of more than 22 grams of heroin.

The Addict's Justification

For the above crimes, Tran Thi Chanh, Dau Van Tuan and Nguyen Thanh Sy were prosecuted and brought to trial for "Illegal drug trafficking". Before the witness stand, the defendants all admitted their crimes. All 3 said that because of drug addiction, they got into the path of buying and selling those banned substances to both use and resell for profit.

When questioned by the jury about the money to buy drugs, Tuan said he saved it up while working as a motorbike taxi driver. Tuan told the court that before that, he had worked for many years everywhere. Since moving to Vinh city (old) to live, he chose to work as a motorbike taxi driver to make a living. After getting addicted to drugs, he could not get out and fell into drug trafficking. Justifying his actions, the defendant said he "traded drugs to earn extra money for Tet."

The defendant admitted that he knew his actions were wrong and violated the law, but because he was involved in drugs, he continued to slide down the drain. Facing the verdict of the law, defendant Tuan gave details to request a lighter sentence, such as his father was awarded the Second Class Resistance Medal, the Third Class Liberation Soldier Medal; his mother was awarded the Second Class Resistance Medal, and had a certificate of being a beneficiary of policies like a war invalid...

At this point, the judge immediately spoke sternly: “Your parents have devoted themselves and sacrificed for the country, but you trampled on their sacrifices and violated the law. You knew it was wrong but still did it. What do you think about this?”. In response to the above questioning, Tuan remained silent.

The defendant stated that over the years he had been working everywhere and had rarely returned home. Especially since he became addicted to drugs, he felt more and more lost. Although he knew that it was against the law and upset his family, he could not break free from that temptation. Now that he was arrested and faced with the sentence of the law, he felt remorseful and guilty towards his family and relatives. He expressed his remorse and asked the court to consider reducing his sentence so that he could return to his family soon and repay his parents.

Standing next to him, defendant Sy kept his head down throughout the trial. He lost an arm in an accident and was in poor health, but he became a slave to drugs. Addiction broke up Sy's family when his wife left and his children are now being cared for by their grandparents in the countryside. The defendant explained that he lived in the same room with Tuan, so when he heard his friend discussing drug trafficking, he agreed. His purpose was to have drugs to use and receive some spending money from his friend. Facing the verdict, the defendant asked the law for leniency.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants' actions violated the law. In this case, defendant Tran Thi Chanh bought a large quantity of drugs, so the panel sentenced her to 20 years in prison. Defendant Dau Van Tuan committed a crime with many mitigating circumstances, so he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In this case, defendant Nguyen Thanh Sy committed the crime as an accomplice, and the defendant himself is disabled, so the court sentenced him to 7 years in prison for "illegally buying and selling drugs".

From addicts, Tuan and the defendants in the case became drug dealers, spreading white death to many people. Although the defendants knew clearly the harmful effects of drugs and understood the provisions of the law if they were involved in this banned substance, because of greed and to satisfy their personal needs, they recklessly committed crimes, and now they have to pay the price for their mistakes.