Marijuana and crystal meth trafficking ring sentenced
(Baonghean.vn) - On the afternoon of February 9, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Le Duc Giang (born in 1993), Le Van Tu (born in 1994), both residing in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Pham Quang Tien (born in 1992), residing in Dien Phuc commune, Dien Chau district, and Cao Tuan Tu (born in 1995), residing in Dien Hoa commune, Dien Chau) for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".
At noon on August 16, 2017, in Thanh Xuan commune (Thanh Chuong), the working group of the Drug Prevention Police Department of the Provincial Police discovered and caught Le Duc Giang and Le Van Tu red-handed transporting 6 sacks of marijuana (weighing 99kg) and more than 3.1kg of crystal meth and pink opium in a 4-seater car. After Giang and Tu were arrested, Pham Quang Tien and Cao Tuan Tu went to the police headquarters to confess and admit their crimes.
Around the beginning of August 2017, Tien and Tu transported 2 bags of marijuana (weighing 33 kg) for Nguyen Anh Thao (residing in Hanoi) from Cau Treo border gate (Ha Tinh) to Hanoi to receive 55 million VND in wages.
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| Defendants at Court. Photo: Nhu Binh |
On August 14, 2017, Thao called Tien and Tu to hire them to receive drugs from Lao people at Cau Treo border gate. Then, Thao called Le Duc Giang (who was doing business in Laos) to transport drugs from Cau Treo to Hanoi, for a fee of 50 million. Giang accepted and called Le Van Tu to rent a car from Nghe An to Cau Treo to pick Giang up and transport marijuana to Hanoi, Giang would pay Tu 20 million VND.
On the morning of August 16, 2017, Giang returned from Laos to Cau Treo border gate, driving a car that Tu had rented and waited in advance to the meeting point to receive the drugs. At this time, Tien and Tu also drove the car to the meeting point. Following Tien's signal, a group of Lao people carried 6 sacks of marijuana (weighing 99kg) and 1 bag of crystal meth and pink opium (weighing more than 3.1kg) onto Giang's car. When Giang and Tu transported it to Thanh Xuan commune (Thanh Chuong), they were arrested.
Differentiating the role of each defendant in the case, the People's Court sentenced Pham Quang Tien to life in prison, Cao Tuan Tu to 20 years in prison, Le Duc Giang to 19 years in prison, and Le Van Tu to 17 years in prison.
In this case, Nguyen Anh Thao was identified as the ringleader, but after Giang's group was arrested, Thao fled. The police investigation agency has split the case into another case and issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Nguyen Anh Thao. When he is arrested, he will be dealt with according to regulations.
