High price for woman who abandons child to follow lover to drug trafficking
(Baonghean.vn) - After her marriage broke down, Hien raised her two children alone. Not long after, Hien had an affair with a man 8 years younger than her, even though she knew he had been in prison many times. During her relationship with her young lover, Hien abandoned her children and went into drug trafficking with her lover, only to receive a bitter end.
The People's Court of Nghe An province has just opened a first-instance criminal trial of two defendants Moong Thi Hien (35 years old), residing in Nhon Mai commune, Tuong Duong district and Thai Van Trieu (27 years old), residing in Vien Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking”Hien and Trieu are lovers. Their love affair began after Hien's first marriage broke up.
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Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
At the trial, Hien said that she and her first husband had two children together. Living in a mountainous district, the couple relied solely on farming. Economic pressure and many other conflicts made it impossible for them to maintain a small home for their children. They went their separate ways about ten years ago. After the divorce, Hien raised two children. "My ex-husband has a new family, so I have to raise the children almost alone, it's very difficult," Hien said.
Recently, Hien met and fell in love with a young man hundreds of kilometers away from her house named Thai Van Trieu, despite the age difference and knowing that her lover had been in prison many times. In May 2015, Thai Van Trieu was sentenced by the People's Court of Cau Giay District, Hanoi to 12 months in prison for the crime of Intentional Infliction of Injury. 3 months later, Trieu was sentenced by the People's Court of Nghi Xuan District (Ha Tinh) to a total of 18 months in prison for the crimes of Theft of Property and Consumption of Property obtained by others through crime. In 2018, Trieu was sentenced to 24 months in prison for Theft of Property.
Perhaps, the desire for love made Hien accept Trieu's criminal past. However, instead of building a new warm home together, the two of them went drug trafficking. According to the indictment, around the beginning of December 2021, Thai Van Trieu met a friend named Xuan (unknown background and address). This person asked Trieu if he could buy pink phien? Trieu replied: "I can get it" and then offered 4 million VND per package. After that, Xuan raised the issue of buying drugs "if you can get that much, I will get that much".
On December 11, 2021, Trieu took Hien to buy drugs but failed. The next morning, Trieu continued to take his girlfriend to Tri Le commune, Que Phong district to buy drugs. When they arrived, Trieu told his girlfriend to wait at the grocery store while he went to find a man and bought 6 packages of drugs, worth 7.8 million VND. After buying the "goods", the two went home. Trieu took a few pink pills to use, and gave the rest to Hien to hide.
At around 9:00 a.m. on December 12, 2021, after returning from working in the fields, Trieu told Hien to take the drugs to Vinh City to sell to customers. To avoid detection by the authorities, Trieu asked Hien to use tape to wrap the drugs around his body. After disguising the drugs, the two hired a taxi to Vinh City to deliver them to the customers.
At around 7:00 p.m. the same day, when the couple was entering a motel in Vinh City, the police came to check and discovered 6 packages of drugs containing 1,200 pink pills (weighing more than 112 grams) wrapped around Trieu's body.
Standing before the witness stand, the two defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. The two defendants confessed that because they had feelings for each other and wanted money to buy a house, they “took the risk” of trafficking drugs. However, the lovers’ shipment was discovered by Nghe An authorities. Hien told the court about her difficult circumstances and that she was raising a small child to ask for a reduced sentence.
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The couple promised to live together after their prison terms ended. Photo: Tran Vu |
When asked about her children at the trial, Hien said that they are currently being cared for by her grandparents. When the defendant went with her lover, her two children were also left at her grandparents' house. When asked what she thought when leaving her children to follow her young lover who was a drug dealer, Hien avoided answering.
On the day of the trial of the two defendants, no relatives of either defendant were present. When asked if she was worried about her children having to drop out of school while their mother was in prison, Hien remained silent. What Hien was concerned about at that time was constantly asking about her lover after a long period of detention. This woman said that even though she was in prison, she would still wait for the day her lover was released so they could live together.
It is not known whether the woman’s dream of reunion will come true, but now both must face the harsh judgment of the law. After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced defendant Thai Van Trieu to 20 years in prison, defendant Moong Thi Hien to 18 years in prison, both for the crime of illegal drug trafficking.
Going to prison with a strict sentence of the law, will Hien wake up to correct her mistakes, rebuild her life, and raise her children to be good people? Or will that woman continue to chase after love, leaving her children, who have already suffered many disadvantages, alone...
