Greedy for 20 million VND, young man gets life in prison for drug trafficking

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial of Ha Ba Da (born 1994), residing in Phu Quac 2 village, Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Illegally transporting narcotics".

Previously, at noon on September 8, 2019, Ha Ba Da was working in the fields when a Laotian man named Po called to hire him to transport 2kg of crystal meth to a man named Tuan (Khai Son commune, Anh Son district), and would pay 20 million VND after the job was done. Da agreed.

Defendant Ha Ba Da. Photo: Tran Vu

At 12 noon the same day, Da contacted a man named Po and received drugs in a forest area near Nam Can border gate, Ky Son district, then hid them. At 5 pm on September 9, Da borrowed a motorbike from a friend to go to the area where the drugs were hidden, put them in the trunk and went to Anh Son district.

When arriving at Khai Son commune, Da called Tuan and was told to pick up the goods the next day, so Da rode his motorbike into the forest to sleep. At 7 p.m. the next day, Da and the customer made an appointment to meet in Khai Son commune. While Ha Ba Da was waiting, he saw a blue car claiming to be Tuan's. Da was giving drugs to the customer when he was caught red-handed by the Drug Crime Police Department of Nghe An Province Police with 1,971.45 grams of drugs. Taking advantage of the loophole, the two people in the car escaped.

At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. Da said he agreed because he thought he would only have to give up one day of driving his motorbike to deliver drugs and receive a large sum of money.

The court found that although the defendant confessed honestly, the large amount of drugs required a proportionate sentence. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Ha Ba Da to life in prison for “Illegal transportation of narcotics”.