The man with a bad criminal record was both panning for gold and shipping drugs.
After being released from prison, Luong Duc Nguyen went to the mountainous area of Nghe An province to work as a gold prospector. There, he agreed to transport 6 blocks of heroin and 6,000 ecstasy pills in exchange for 100 million VND.
On July 22, the Nghe An Provincial People's Court held a first-instance trial to hear the case against Luong Duc Nguyen (born in 1972), residing in Thai Nguyen, for the crime of "illegally transporting narcotics".
Luong Duc Nguyen is a defendant with a bad criminal record, having been sentenced to prison five times for various crimes.theft of propertyHe was found guilty of possessing and organizing the illegal use of narcotics. In addition, he had been fined four times for theft.
After being released from prison for some time, around the beginning of May 2024, Nguyen went to Que Phong (Nghe An) to pan for gold. There, Nguyen befriended a man named Luc (a Hmong man, whose identity and background are unknown).
On May 30, 2024, Luc approached Nguyen to transport 6 blocks of heroin and 6,000 ecstasy pills to the Thai Nguyen bus station. They agreed on a fee of 100 million VND, to be paid after the successful delivery of the "goods".
Early the next morning, Luc called and gave Nguyen directions to a forest area in Que Phong to receive the drugs. After receiving the bag of drugs from Luc, Nguyen put it in his backpack and walked to National Highway 48, took a taxi to a densely populated area, rented a room, and waited for a bus.
At 10:00 AM on May 31st, Nguyen was caught red-handed by police at the bus station carrying a backpack containing drugs, with over 2.6 kg of narcotics seized as evidence.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. Nguyen stated that after being released from prison, he was introduced to a job panning for gold in the mountainous region of Nghe An province. Later, driven by greed, he agreed to transport drugs for hire. Nguyen claimed he was arrested before he could receive his payment.
The defendant expressed remorse and presented his difficult circumstances, including being divorced from his wife, to ask the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce his sentence.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions violated the law and were dangerous to society. The defendant had been sentenced to prison multiple times but continued to re-offend, therefore this was an aggravating circumstance in the case.
After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced the defendant Luong Duc Nguyen to life imprisonment for the crime of illegally transporting narcotics.
