Two drug addicts in Quang Nam pooled their money to go to Nghe An to buy 'white powder' (heroin).

On April 1st, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case against two defendants, Vo Dinh Canh (born in 1976) and Ho Duc Muoi (born in 1997), both residing in Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district (Quang Nam province), for the crime of "illegally possessing narcotics".

Canh and Muoi were drug addicts, so on October 16, 2020, when Canh learned that Muoi was preparing to go to Nghe An to buy drugs,white goods"Ten contributed money and asked to go along."

The two defendants at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Before going to Nghe An, Canh called a man named Kieu (Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district) to order a block of heroin and was quoted a price of 160 million VND.

After negotiating the price, early on October 23rd, Canh and Muoi went to Da Nang to catch a bus to Nghe An. Muoi contributed 50 million VND, which he gave to Canh to buy drugs.

The two suspects took a bus to Nghe An, bringing along a motorbike to use for buying drugs. The next day, they rode the motorbike to Kieu's house. Canh accompanied Kieu to the mountainous area to buy drugs.

On the afternoon of October 25th, Canh was arrested by the Nghe An Police along with evidence related to the case.

Knowing his friend had been arrested, Muoi took a bus back to Quang Nam. Nearly a month later, Muoi was arrested by the Nghe An police for investigation.

At the trial, the two defendants confessed to being addicts and buying drugs for personal use. Both asserted that they purchased the drugs to satisfy their addiction, not to sell them.

Considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel of judges sentenced Vo Dinh Canh to 20 years in prison and Ho Duc Muoi to 18 years in prison, both for the crime of illegally possessing narcotics.

Regarding the man selling drugs named Kieu, since he is not present in the area, there is no basis for taking action against him.