Greedy for 10 million in wages, man "carries drugs for hire" gets 20 years in prison

On March 18, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Xong Ba Chia (born 1981), residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong, for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs".

Defendant Xong Ba Chia at the trial. Photo: Nhu Binh

According to the indictment, at 4:00 a.m. on December 22, 2018, in Pieng Luong village, Tri Le commune, the Drug and Crime Prevention Department, Nghe An Border Guard in coordination with Nhon Mai Border Guard Station, Tri Le Border Guard Station and Ho Chi Minh Road Traffic Control Team, Nghe An Police successfully dismantled Project 374L, catching Xong Ba Chia red-handed while carrying a large amount of drugs for transaction. Counting the amount of drugs Chia carried, the authorities determined that there were 11,600 pink pills.

At the trial, Chia confessed that, earlier, when he went to his family's farm, he met a Laotian man (whose specific identity was not determined). This Laotian man asked Chia to transport drugs to a customer for a fee of 10 million VND, to be received after the delivery was completed. The Laotian man also instructed Chia to go to a specific location where someone would come to receive the drugs. While Chia was waiting for the person to receive the drugs, he was arrested by the authorities.

Chia said that due to his limited legal awareness, his child was sick and needed money for treatment, so when he saw that he was being paid a large sum of money, his greed arose, leading to his crime. The defendant also hoped to receive leniency from the law.

Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Xong Ba Chia to 20 years in prison.