Tears of a foreign death row inmate who 'carried' nearly 3kg of drugs from Laos to Vietnam

Fateful meeting at the beer hall

Recently, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought two Lao defendants to trial for the crime of Illegally transporting drugs. The two defendants are Chu Gia (27 years old) and Cho Gia (29 years old), both residing in Noong Het district, Xieng Khouang province, Lao PDR.

Chu Gia and Cho Gia live in the same hamlet of Tham Thao. The two friends have in common that they were born into a family with many siblings and were illiterate. While Chu Gia is the fourth child out of six siblings, his friend Cho Gia is the fourth son in a family of eight children.

Not being able to go to school, both of them were illiterate and followed their parents and relatives to work in the fields every day. Actually, living in the village did not require much spending, but both of them did not want to stop there. The two friends wanted to earn a lot of money to buy rice, take care of their families and meet their personal needs. However, those two young men lost everything from that fateful beer drinking session.

Accordingly, on the evening of February 20, 2023, Chu Gia and Cho Gia invited each other to drink beer in town and met a man who called himself Chay Lau. After talking, this man hired both of them to transport drugs to Vietnam, promising to pay each of them 5 million Lao kip. Faced with the attractive offer, the couple immediately agreed.

Without waiting long, the next afternoon, the two got on a motorbike driven by Chay Lau to pick up two backpacks full of drugs. After that, the three continued their journey to the border area between Laos and Vietnam.

Because the forest path was difficult, the three of them left their vehicles behind and walked. Chay Lau went ahead to lead the way and keep watch for Chu Gia carrying a backpack containing nearly 3 kg of drugs, while Cho Lau “carried” more than 2.4 kg of drugs on his back and followed behind.

At around 7:45 p.m. the same day, when the three of them crossed the Vietnamese border about 1 km, Chu Gia and Cho Gia were discovered and caught red-handed by Nghe An Border Guard. Chay Lau alone quickly escaped. With the above actions, Chu Gia and Cho Gia were prosecuted and brought to trial for the crime ofIllegal drug trafficking.

The late tears of remorse of a death row inmate

At the trial, through an interpreter, the two defendants explained their difficult circumstances, illiteracy, and lack of understanding of Vietnamese law, so they agreed to transport drugs for hire. Both admitted that they planned to use the promised payment to buy rice for their families and for personal expenses.

The trial proceeded quite quickly as both defendants admitted their actions. However, the actions of the two defendants in court surprised many people. Accordingly, when hearing the interpreter recite the words of the representative of the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province exercising the right to prosecute, requesting the death penalty for Chu Gia and life imprisonment for defendant Cho Gia, the two defendants suddenly knelt down, continuously bowed their heads and clasped their hands, asking for leniency under Vietnamese law.

Both expressed deep remorse for their actions. “The defendant is not married, is young, and has poor legal awareness. I ask the court to give me a chance to start my life over. I know I was wrong and will not repeat the crime,” the interpreter reported the defendant Chu Gia’s statement.

Being recommended the highest sentence, throughout the court's deliberations, Chu Gia kept raising his handcuffed hands to cover his face and crying. Especially when he saw his relatives rushing into the courtroom, this defendant appeared even more flustered and cried even more. It is unclear what they said to each other, but everyone was in tears.

From that hasty meeting, Chu Gia knew that in order to attend this trial, his relatives had to take a bus to Vietnam a few days before. The difficulties and hardships of his relatives were therefore many times greater. At this time, Chu Gia realized the price of his greed and foolishness, not only causing him to soon receive a severe sentence from the law, but also causing his relatives to suffer and be implicated.

And Chu Gia's worries came true when the jury sentenced him to the highest sentence. The defendant Cho Gia was sentenced to life in prison for the crime of Illegally transporting drugs.

Sentenced to death, Chu Gia covered his face and cried loudly. As if seeking a chance to live, his relatives quickly reminded the defendant to file an appeal. Chu Gia turned his head to look at his relatives, then left with red eyes…