Man sentenced to 7 years in prison for hiding drugs in the kitchen attic.

(Baonghean.vn) - As an addict, Tien went to Binh Chuan commune (Con Cuong district) to buy heroin for 1.7 million VND to use and sell for profit. The kitchen attic was the safest place for Tien to hide the drugs.

On July 26th, the People's Court of Quy Hop District held a preliminary hearing in the criminal case against defendant Lang Van Tien for the crime of "illegally trading in narcotics".

Lang Van Tien (seated) at the first-instance trial. Photo by Le Phan

According to the indictment: At 8:40 AM on April 26, 2017, at the residence of Lang Van Tien (born in 1996) in Na Toong hamlet, Chau Thai commune (Quy Hop district), the Drug Crime Investigation Team of the Quy Hop Police Department caught Tien red-handed while he was illegally selling 0.05g of heroin to Le Van Cong (born in 1989) residing in Mon village, and Kim Ngoc Ke (born in 1991) residing in Cu village, both in Chau Quang commune, for 200,000 VND. Three packets of white compressed powder were seized from Tien's pants pocket.

During an emergency search of Tien's residence, investigators seized one package of compressed white powder in the kitchen. The total amount of heroin seized from Lang Van Tien was 1.5g, of which 0.05g was found on Le Van Cong, 0.25g on Lang Van Tien, and 1.2g in Tien's kitchen.

At the police station, Lang Van Tien confessed that due to drug addiction, on the evening of April 24, 2017, he went to Binh Chuan commune (Con Cuong district) to meet a man named Kiem and bought a package of heroin for 1.7 million VND to use and sell for profit. Tien sold one package of heroin to Cong for 200,000 VND. He continued selling heroin to Cong and Ke when he was caught red-handed.

At the trial, the defendant Lang Van Tien honestly confessed to all of his criminal acts as stated in the indictment.

Due to his repeated illegal sales of heroin to drug addicts, Lang Van Tien committed the crime of "illegal trafficking of narcotics" as stipulated in point b, clause 2, article 194 of the Penal Code. Based on other grounds, the court sentenced the defendant Lang Van Tien to 7 years in prison.

Regarding the man named Kiem that Lang Van Tien mentioned, verification revealed that no man named Kiem with those characteristics exists, therefore there is no basis for investigation or prosecution. As for Le Van Cong and Kim Ngoc Ke, due to insufficient evidence, there is no basis for criminal prosecution.

Le Phan