Greedy for 10 million dong, hired worker sentenced to life in prison
(Baonghean.vn) - Greedy, Bui Van Thanh agreed to go from Hue to Nghe An to buy drugs for hire. When Thanh was carrying the "goods" and preparing to deliver them to his boss, he was caught red-handed by the police.
On November 11, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Bui Van Thanh (37 years old, from Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province), residing in Xuan Phu ward, Hue city (Thua Thien Hue province) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
Thanh is a subject with a bad personal history. In 2001, Thanh was sentenced to 18 months of non-custodial reform for theft of property. In 2018, Thanh was sentenced to 15 months in prison for theft.Illegal possession of drugs.
Not long after being released from prison, Thanh re-offended a drug-related crime. According to the investigation agency's documents, on the afternoon of May 3, 2020, Thanh met Nguyen Duc Trong (born in 1988), residing in Thuan Loc ward, Hue city, and was hired by this person to go to Nghe An to buy drugs and would be paid 10 million VND. Thanh agreed, so Trong gave Thanh 80 million VND to buy drugs and the phone number of a man named Nghia to contact.
 |
| Defendant Bui Van Thanh received a life sentence. Photo: Tran Vu |
That evening, Thanh took the train to Vinh City to buy drugs. On the morning of May 5, Nghia called Thanh to make an appointment to come to his house in Nghi Loc District to pick up the drugs. After receiving the "goods", Thanh checked and found inside a plastic bag containing crystal meth (weighing 202.020 grams) and 30 plastic bags containing pink pills (weighing 576.685 grams in total). When Thanh was about to catch a bus to Hue City, Vinh City Police raided and arrested him along with the evidence.
The investigation agency summoned Nguyen Duc Trong for testimony, but Trong did not admit to giving 80 million VND to Thanh to buy drugs. The investigation agency conducted a confrontation between Thanh and Trong but could not prove Trong's criminal behavior. Therefore, there is no basis to prosecute Trong in this case.
At the trial, the defendant admitted that out of greed, he agreed to buy drugs for Trong in exchange for money. The defendant expressed remorse and asked for a lighter sentence so he could return to his wife and children.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant's recidivism was an aggravating circumstance in this case. Therefore, the panel sentenced Bui Van Thanh.life imprisonmentfor the crime of illegal drug trafficking.
In this case, there was also a drug seller for Thanh, named Nghia. Because Thanh did not know his background or specific address, the investigation agency had no basis to verify and handle the case./.
