The 'journey' to the death penalty of a former village chief for 20 years in Nghe An

Trade everything for 2 million dong

Lau Giong Long (born in 1972) began holding the position of Chief of Huoi Thang village from 2000 until his arrest. As the most prestigious person in the village, Long wanted to retire many times but the villagers still trusted him. So, from one term to another, the people of Huoi Thang village continued to elect Long to hold the most important position in this village.

On the morning of March 30, Lau Giong Long and his wife Ho Y Co (born in 1975) were in the field when two Lao men named Vu Chua Re and Po Lau came to them and asked them to bring drugs from Laos to sell, but they were afraid of being checked by the police, so they asked Long to keep them for a few days and then come back to get them.

Greedy, Long led two Lao men to his house and hid drugs in the attic in the bedroom. The drugs included 4 heroin cakes, 5 packages of crystal meth, and 30 packages of pink pheasant.

The couple Lau Giong Long and Ho Y Co at court. Photo: Nguyen Duong

According to the two men, they are currently looking for buyers. When they arrive, they will ask Long to help them sell the drugs for 2.5 million VND/package of pink phien, 4,500 USD/heroin cake, 3,500 USD to 3,800 USD/kg of crystal meth. They said that if they sell the "goods", they will pay them handsomely, so Long immediately agreed.

At noon that same day, a man named Dung came to Long's shack to buy a heroin cake for 115 million VND. Dung gave Long the money. Long went home and opened his backpack to take out a heroin cake. After selling the "goods", 2 Lao people came to get the money and gave Long 2 million VND as payment. Seeing her husband holding a lot of money, Ho Y Co asked her husband and Long explained that he was helping sell some drugs to the Lao people. Co advised her husband not to get involved and to leave things to others.

Then, on April 9, two men introduced themselves as Tuan and Thanh and came to Long's shack to buy two heroin bricks for VND230 million. That evening, the two men came to buy another 30 packages of opium for a total of VND320 million. However, while they were making the transaction, Lau Giong Long and Ho Y Co were arrested by the Ky Son District Police. Taking advantage of the loophole, the two customers took the money and ran away.

The "bitter ending" of the former village chief and his wife

Recently (July 24), the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of the couple Lau Giong Long and Ho Y Co. The former village chief Lau Giong Long was prosecuted for "Illegal drug trafficking" and Ho Y Co was prosecuted for "Failure to report a crime".

As soon as she entered the courtroom, Ho Y Co covered her face and cried. Perhaps Co did not think that one day she would have to stand in court because she knew her husband was a drug dealer but did not report him. With a thin, bony face, the woman in her early 40s looked as old as a 60-year-old woman.

Ho Y Co only knows how to farm all year round, has little contact with the outside world, and has limited legal awareness, so is not fully aware of the consequences of her actions. In court, Co cried because she felt sorry for her husband and children, and also felt sorry for her fate, which had accidentally gotten her into trouble with the law.

Defendant Ho Y Co. Photo: Nguyen Duong

At the trial, the defendants Lau Giong Long and his wife admitted to their crimes. Long confessed that “because I was short of money and had many children, when two Laotians asked me to sell drugs, I decided to take the risk. I knew I was wrong, and I only hoped that the jury would consider reducing my sentence” - defendant Long wiped away his tears.

As for Ho Y Co, because she could not speak Kinh, she had to hire an interpreter. Co said that she knew that her husband had agreed to sell drugs and had advised him, but Lau Giong Long still refused to listen to his wife. “If both husband and wife have to go to prison, there will be no one to raise and care for their children. The defendant only hopes that the panel of judges will consider reducing the sentence so that the defendant can return home soon to raise the children.”

It is known that Lau Giong Long and his wife have 4 children (the oldest born in 1992, the youngest born in 1999), and currently have a son studying medicine in Hanoi.

During the deliberation, the couple advised each other in their native language. Co looked at her husband and then back at her child, tears rolling down her cheeks, making her relatives unable to hold back their tears.

At the end of the trial, after a comprehensive review of the case, the panel sentenced Lau Giong Long to death for “Illegal drug trafficking”; Ho Y Co was sentenced to 3 months and 14 days in prison for “Failure to report a crime”. Because Ho Y Co’s sentence was equal to the time he spent in detention, Co was released immediately in court.

Even though she was released, Ho Y Co's eyes were still filled with sadness because she missed her husband, while Lau Giong Long just bowed his head and said nothing. The village chief's heart was filled with regret, but it was all too late...