Two 'female monsters' in and out of prison for being 'addicted' to drug trafficking

On the morning of June 20, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of the defendants Tran Le My (born in 1976), residing in Hong Son ward, Vinh city, for the crime of illegal drug trafficking and Nguyen Thi Hao (born in 1982), residing in Thanh Hoa city (Thanh Hoa) for the crime of illegal drug possession.

According to the investigation agency's documents, on November 15, 2018, a woman named Huong in Hanoi called My to order 50 packages of pink drugs for 5 million VND/package. My agreed. Huong transferred 250 million VND to My's bank account.

My then contacted a Laotian man named Tung to buy 50 packages of heroin. But this man informed him that he only had 30 packages of heroin, selling them for 3.5 million VND/package. My then transferred 105 million VND to the Laotian to carry out the drug transaction.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

On November 26, My packed 30 packages of drugs in an orange crate and sent them by bus to Hanoi for Huong for 150 million VND. A day later, Huong continued to order from My 2 heroin cakes for 160 million VND/cake, 40 packages of pink phien (priced at 5 million VND/package), 1 kg of crystal meth for 280 million VND.

Also on November 27, Nguyen Thi Hao called My to ask to buy 20 million VND of ketamine. My agreed. At this time, My continued to call Tung to order 2 heroin cakes, 1 kg of crystal meth, 40 packages of pink meth, 500 grams of ketamine for a total of 700 million VND. On November 28, My sent 490 million VND by bus to the Laotian, and promised to pay the remaining amount later.

At 12:00 on November 30, Tung sent someone to bring a motorbike to the gate of his house and gave My a backpack containing drugs. My hid the drugs in the bedroom. Then, My called Hao and asked, "Do you have 3 ounces of ketamine worth 90 million VND?". Hao asked for a debt extension, and My agreed. At 3:30 p.m. the same day, Hao took a bus from Thanh Hoa City to Vinh City to My's house to get the drugs.

After receiving the drugs, Hao walked to catch a bus back to Thanh Hoa. However, when he arrived at Vinh market intersection in Hong Son ward, he was arrested by the Vinh City police task force, and the evidence confiscated was 298.685 grams of ketamine.

Next, Vinh City Police executed an arrest warrant and conducted an emergency search of Tran Le My. During the search of My's house, they seized 66.41 grams of ketamine, 889.215 grams of methamphetamine, 805.415 grams of methamphetamine (tablet form), and 705.6 grams of heroin.

Both defendants have many criminal records. My was sentenced to 8 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking in 2003, while Hao has 3 previous convictions. In 2001, Hao was sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Court for illegal drug trafficking. In 2001, Hao was sentenced to 30 months in prison for illegal drug possession. Also in this year, Hao was sentenced to 42 months in prison for illegal drug trafficking.

At the trial, the defendants admitted to the crimes as stated in the indictment. Hao confessed that he bought the drugs for use because he was addicted to drugs.

For the crimes, the representative of Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy proposed the death penalty for Tran Le My and 11 to 12 years in prison for defendant Nguyen Thi Hao for the crime of illegal possession of narcotics.

Having the last word, both defendants asked the panel of judges to consider reducing their sentences so they could start over. Considering that in this case, it is necessary to clarify the role and responsibility of the woman named Huong - who ordered the drugs from the US. Therefore, the panel of judges decided to extend the deliberation. The trial will announce the verdict on the afternoon of June 21.