The man who sold cows set up camp, kept guns and guns to sell drugs.

The trial of Lo Van Thi (56 years old), residing in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district, at the People's Court of Nghe An province at the end of August was attended only by his wife. When meeting his wife in court, Thi hardly said or gave any instructions. The defendant maintained a calm attitude from the time he appeared in court until the end of the trial.

From a drug addict, Lo Van Thi fell into a life of crime. To have “goods” to serve his personal needs and have money to spend, Thi colluded with some bad guys to buy and sell drugs.

Thi decided to sell his family's two cows. Gathering all the money he had saved on May 5, 2019, Lo Van Thi went to Pu Lom hill, Luong Minh commune to buy 4 "trees" of heroin and 1 package of pink phien from a man named Nhenh (Laotian) for a total of 20 million VND. During the purchase, Thi was also given a package of crystal meth by Nhenh.

Evidence of the case (documentary photo)

With the above drugs, Thi brought them to a camp set up deep in the forest, divided them into small pieces, and carefully hid them. Every day, Thi stayed in the camp to use drugs and sell the "goods" to other subjects.

Lo Van Thi was always on high alert and showed his wisdom when choosing a place to buy and sell drugs on the top of Pu Lom hill, surrounded by rugged mountains and forests. From the foot of the hill to the mountain about 250m, Thi and his "underlings" built 4 shacks, the purpose was for addicts to come buy drugs, then use them right in the shacks. Each shack was assigned a few "trusted" people equipped with guns to keep watch. As for a separate shack, it was secret, no one knew, including his underlings, where Lo Van Thi directly used drugs after each successful transaction.

Addicts who came to buy drugs had to be “approved” by Thi’s men before being allowed into the shack. Thi passed the drugs to his men before sending them to the addicts. For those who came from outside the province to buy drugs, Thi arranged for his men to check at Xop Mat bridge (about 7km from Thi’s gathering place). Only when they felt safe and trustworthy would they let someone in to get the “goods”.

At around 2:00 p.m. on May 8, while Lo Van Thi was at his camp selling drugs to addicts, he was discovered and caught red-handed by a working group of Nghe An Provincial Police and Tuong Duong District Police. The seized evidence included many packages containing drugs with a total weight of 31.85 grams of heroin and 75.87 grams of methaphetamine.

In addition, the authorities also seized 1 duckbill grenade, 1 pistol, 1 flintlock gun, 9 bullets and more than 1.3 million VND. Thi obtained these weapons from a previous drug exchange with a customer who bought the “goods”. With the above two acts, Lo Van Thi was prosecuted for two crimes of “Illegal trading of narcotics” and “Illegal possession of military weapons”.

Defendant Lo Van Thi at the first instance court. Photo: Tran Vu

In court, Thi confessed that he had been addicted to drugs since 2016. “Since becoming addicted to drugs, I have always felt uncomfortable and frustrated every time I had a seizure. Therefore, I bought drugs and kept them ready to use gradually,” Thi confessed.

Thi admitted: knowing that drug addiction is dangerous, has a great impact on health, and is the cause of many social evils. However, "because I could not quit, I lived off drugs". The defendant bought drugs to both use and sell for profit. The amount of more than 1.3 million VND that the authorities seized from Thi also came from illegal trading.

Having served in the army for a time and been awarded a third-class resistance medal by the state, Thi clearly knew that possessing military weapons was a violation of the law. However, “for self-defense and to serve the drug trafficking process, the defendant kept the gun and ammunition on his person,” the defendant confessed to possessing military weapons.

Lo Van Thi was given the last word in court, but he refused and remained silent. It seemed that he had already determined his sentence. During the entire time waiting for the court to deliberate, Thi appeared calm.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant, although he knew that drug trafficking and possession of military weapons were strictly prohibited by law, still showed contempt for the law. Therefore, a severe sentence was needed to serve as a general deterrent and prevention. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Lo Van Thi to 20 years in prison for “Illegal drug trafficking” and 2 years in prison for “Illegal possession of military weapons”. The total sentence that defendant Lo Van Thi must serve is 22 years in prison.

Seeing her husband being quickly escorted to the covered truck, the wife ran after him, flustered, wanting to say something but it was too late. Living in the same house, this woman did not know about her husband selling cows and drugs until the day of the trial…

Box:In addition to this case, Lo Van Thi is also involved in another case, awaiting trial. Because previously, on April 13, 2019, Thi was prosecuted by Tuong Duong District Police for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".