Two drug addicts in Quang Nam pooled money to go to Nghe An to buy 'white goods'

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

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

Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Before going to Nghe An, Canh called a man named Kieu (Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district) to order 1 cake of heroin and was quoted 160 million VND.

After negotiating the price, early in the morning of October 23, Canh and Muoi went to Da Nang to catch a bus to Nghe An. Muoi contributed 50 million VND, giving it to Canh to buy drugs.

Taking the bus to Nghe An, the two subjects also brought a motorbike to buy drugs. The next day, the two rode a motorbike to Kieu’s house. Canh went with Kieu to the mountain area to buy drugs.

On the afternoon of October 25, Canh was arrested by Nghe An police along with evidence of the case.

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

At the trial, the two defendants claimed they were drug addicts and bought the drugs for personal use. Both insisted they bought them to satisfy their addictions and not to sell them.

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

As for the drug dealer named Kieu, because he was not present in the area, there was no basis for prosecution.