Pretending to take the child to the doctor to buy and sell drugs
(Baonghean.vn) - Using the excuse of taking his child to see a doctor, the man brought his wife and child along as a "front" for drug dealing.
On December 25, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Le Ngoc Tuan (born 1982, residing in Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
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| Defendant Le Ngoc Tuan in court. Photo: Nguyen Duong |
In 2005, Tuan was sentenced to 6 years in prison by the People's Court of Nghe An province for "illegally buying and selling drugs". In 2009, Tuan was released from prison but continued to "return to his old ways". In 2013, Tuan was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the People's Court of Que Phong district for the same crime. Tuan was infected with HIV in the final stage.
According to the indictment, on August 25, 2018, a person named Thanh in Ninh Binh province (specific address unknown) called to ask to buy 1 kg of crystal meth and 1 kg of ketamine, and Le Ngoc Tuan immediately agreed.
On the morning of August 26, Tuan called a Laotian named Nhong Xia to buy the drugs. Xia agreed to sell Tuan 1 kg of crystal meth and 1 kg of ketamine for 300 million VND. Then, Tuan called Thanh and agreed on a price of over 500 million VND for the drugs. Two days later, Tuan hired a motorbike taxi to go to Thong Thu Border Gate, Que Phong District to meet Xia to buy the drugs. Tuan promised Xia that when he sold the drugs, he would pay.
Tuan brought this amount of drugs back and hid them in a cave at the foot of Truong Banh mountain intersection, Que Phong district, then returned home to borrow his father's car under the pretext of taking his child to the doctor. Tuan drove to get the drugs and then returned to his parents' house to pick up his wife and child and go down to Hoang Mai town to rent a motel room.
At midnight on July 28, Thanh called Tuan, and the two agreed that Tuan would go to Vinh, while Thanh would go to Hanoi, and they would meet at any place to deliver the goods. However, when Tuan approached Quynh Luu district, the Hoang Mai City Police signaled him to stop the car for inspection. Tuan stepped on the gas and ran away, ordering his wife to throw the plastic bag on the road. Tuan was then arrested by the police.
At the trial, Le Ngoc Tuan confessed all his crimes and asked the jury to reduce his sentence.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant Le Ngoc Tuan’s actions were extremely serious, and that he was a repeat offender, so he had to be isolated from society for a long period of time. Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced defendant Le Ngoc Tuan to life in prison.
