The journey to rescue three women who were tricked into going to China

(Baonghean.vn) - Trusting a local woman who was going to take them to China to work for a stable salary, three women agreed to go with them. However, when they arrived, the subjects demanded that their families pay 120 million VND in ransom to be released.

On April 22, 2016, Thong Thu Border Post (located in Thong Thu Commune, Que Phong, Nghe An) received a report from the family of Ms. Lo Thi Tuyet (born in 1961), Ha Thi Chau (born in 1971) and Ms. Lo Thi Hoa (born in 1959), all residing in Loc Village, Thong Thu Commune (Que Phong, Nghe An) about their family members going missing. Thong Thu Border Post detectives investigated and verified the case, and at the same time reported the incident to the Nghe An Provincial Border Guard Command to develop a plan to combat the case.

According to the results of the investigation, around the beginning of April 2016, Mr. Lo Van Thanh (brother of Lo Thi Tuyet and Lo Thi Hoa) who used to live in Loc village, migrated to Laos and settled in Sam To district (Hua Phan - Laos) since the 1980s, met Chia Ninh (a native of Loc village) who married a Chinese man and is currently living in Hua Phan and is on her way to China with her husband. After talking, the two exchanged phone numbers.

Three rescued human traffickers are being handed over to their families by Thong Thu Border Guard Station (Photo: Hai Thuong)

In mid-April 2016, Mr. Thanh went to Ms. Lo Thi Tuyet's house and she complained that she wanted to work somewhere to earn more income. Then Mr. Thanh remembered that he knew Chia Ninh so he contacted her. Chia Ninh said that she had relatives in China who could help find a job for the two of them as a light housekeeper, earning 5 million VND per month, and Chia Ninh would take care of the travel expenses...

Hearing that, Ms. Tuyet and Ms. Hoa were moved by the attractive salary and no paperwork required, so they agreed to go to China to work with Chia Ninh. After agreeing on April 18, they would take a bus to Vinh to Mong Cai and then go to China to work.

Arriving at Vinh bus station, Mr. Thanh, Mrs. Tuyet, Mrs. Hoa, Ms. Chau and Chia Ninh met a woman named Mai Loi (who claimed to be from Chau Thon commune, Que Phong, Nghe An) and together they took a bus to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh). Afterwards, Mr. Thanh was given 3 million VND by Mai Loi to pay for the bus back, while the three women were led by Mai Loi and Chia Ninh to China by river.

However, on April 20, Mai Loi called the families of the three victims and demanded that they pay a ransom of 40 million VND each to release them, otherwise their lives would be in danger or they would be sold to brothels. Too surprised by the incident, the victims' families secretly reported the incident to the police and Thong Thu Border Guard Station and asked for help.

After receiving the news, Nghe An Border Guards came up with a plan to rescue the victims. On the one hand, they asked Mai Loi's family to tell them that they had not yet arranged enough money due to difficult circumstances to prolong the time. On the other hand, they sought information about the subjects according to the testimony of Mr. Lo Van Thanh, who directly accompanied the subjects in taking the three women out of the area.

During this time, the subjects continuously called to urge the money to be delivered soon, then Mai Loi reduced the ransom amount from 120 to 90 million VND for all three victims. On May 6, Mai Loi called and asked the families to collect 90 million VND and give it to Mr. Thanh to bring to Mong Cai to receive the victims and did not forget to tell them to go alone, not to report to the police and other forces, the deadline was May 8.

After many days of delay, on May 10, Mr. Lo Van Thanh brought money to Mong Cai for Mai Loi to pick up the victims. On the way, the subjects repeatedly called the families of the three victims to verify that Mr. Thanh was traveling alone and did not report to the police or border guards.

Nghe An Border Guard Command plans to coordinate with Mong Cai Border Guard and Quang Ninh Police to rescue the victims.

At around 10am on May 10, Mai Loi did not show up as planned but asked a ferryman to take the three women back to Vietnam and hand them over to Mr. Thanh. The ferryman did not accept any money, so there was no basis for the authorities to arrest the subject. After completing the basic procedures, the three subjects were handed over to Nghe An Border Guard to be returned to their families.

The three victims said that when they arrived in China, they were locked in a closed room, not given enough food and water, and were not allowed to take care of their personal hygiene. According to Ha Thi Chau, while she was locked up, she heard a conversation between a Vietnamese woman and a Chinese man about being sold to a Chinese man as his wife for 6,000 yuan, so she was very confused. During that time, she thought of a way to pretend to be crazy, screaming, tearing her clothes and scratching her head and pulling her hair, making the man not dare to buy her.

Ngo Hoang