The journey of 'casting the net' to capture two brothers running a drug ring from Nghe An to Quang Ninh

On August 24, Nghia Dan District Police announced that they had successfully broken up Project 819M, arresting two brothers who were illegally transporting a large quantity of crystal meth.

Previously, in mid-July 2019, through professional work, Nghia Dan District Police discovered a number of subjects who were from outside the province regularly illegally buying and selling drugs from the border area of ​​Que Phong district to the northern provinces for consumption.

Identifying subjects and methods of drug transportation

Brothers Do Van Long and Do Van Trong. Photo: Minh Thai

During the verification process, Nghia Dan District Police identified two subjects as Do Van Trong (born 1996) and Do Van Long (born 1987), both residing in Cao Thang Ward, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh Province.

These two subjects are two brothers in the same family, both are drug addicts and have criminal records for illegal drug trafficking. Even their parents and siblings were involved in illegal drug trafficking, which were destroyed by the police.

When entering Nghe An, Long and Trong often colluded with a number of ethnic people residing in the border areas bordering Vietnam - Laos to buy drugs in large quantities to bring back to Quang Ninh and then to the northern provinces for consumption. These two subjects were very reckless, often carrying hot weapons and weapons to fight back when being arrested, their methods and tricks for drug transactions were sophisticated and cunning.

They do not trade drugs according to fixed rules, times, and locations, but change frequently, trade drugs in many different deserted locations, using intermediary locations to trade drugs. Each transaction is at a different time frame, viewing the goods in one place, paying in another place, receiving the goods in another place, even only informing the hiding place for the partner to come and pick up the goods themselves, not directly delivering the goods...

Each time they went to Nghe An to buy drugs, Trong and Long rented a motel in Thai Hoa town and disguised themselves as locals, to easily commit the crime. During the journey to buy drugs, the subjects did not carry any money, but when they entered Nghe An, another subject in the Northern region would transfer money through various money transfer services.

“When he had the money, Trong tried to contact an ethnic minority person to make a transaction in advance to buy drugs at an agreed location. Then Trong moved to another location as instructed and made a transaction with another person. The transaction area was usually a mountainous, rugged area to avoid being monitored and supervised by the police,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thai, Head of Nghia Dan District Police and Head of the investigation team.

After receiving the goods, Trong changed his means of transport and direction of travel many times to avoid detection and monitoring by the police and brought the goods to a safe hiding area in Thai Hoa town. Then he gave the goods to Long - Trong's brother to transport to Quang Ninh province and the northern regions for consumption.

Two suspects and evidence at Nghia Dan District Police Station. Photo: Minh Thai

Secret project number 819M

Faced with that situation, Nghia Dan District Police reported to the Provincial Police leadership to establish a special project coded 819M to concentrate forces and means to fight and destroy this drug ring.

Through professional measures, the Investigation Committee determined that on the afternoon of August 18, 2019, Do Van Trong made a transaction to receive money transferred by another person in the Northern provinces, then took a car to take the money he had just received to Que Phong district, where Trong found a motel to wait for ethnic people to contact him to buy drugs.

At noon on August 19, 2019, after contacting and completing drug transactions in the rugged mountainous area, Trong took the goods and took a bus to hide them in Thai Hoa town.

After hiding the goods in a safe location, Trong listened and felt safe. Trong contacted his brother, Do Van Long, to agree on a time to transport the goods to Quang Ninh province for consumption on the night of August 19, 2019, while Trong stayed behind to avoid being detected by the police.

Cast the net and lift the net

After understanding the methods and tricks of the subjects, the Task Force divided its forces into many groups to closely monitor and grasp all the movements of the subjects and set up ambushes to arrest the subjects according to the planned plans. At about 11:50 p.m. on August 19, 2019, the scouts discovered Do Van Long in the National Highway 1A area, in Dien Yen commune, Dien Chau, Nghe An, preparing to catch a car to bring goods to Quang Ninh for consumption.

Determining that the time was ripe, Nghia Dan District Police decided to crack the case. The pre-arranged detective teams quickly approached, subdued, subdued, and arrested Do Van Long despite his fierce resistance. During the arrest, Do Van Long was confiscated 1.5 kg of crystal meth, 3 cell phones, 1 small scale, 2 utility knives, and 1 switchblade.

After arresting Long, the Investigation Committee escorted the subject and the evidence to the headquarters of the People's Committee of Dien Yen commune, Dien Chau district to conduct initial investigation activities according to the provisions of law. During the initial struggle, the subject Do Van Long confessed that he and his younger brother Do Van Trong had committed all the crimes together.

Confiscated exhibits. Photo: Minh Thai

After Long was arrested, Trong sensed something was wrong and fled. By using professional measures, at 10:00 a.m. on August 20, 2019, the working groups discovered where Trong was hiding, so they approached, promptly controlled, urgently arrested and escorted the subject to the Nghia Dan District Police Department for investigation.

During the arrest, 120 million VND, 3 mobile phones and some tools were seized from Trong to satisfy his drug addiction. During the initial investigation, Do Van Trong confessed the entire content of his crime along with his brother Do Van Long.

The successful destruction of the case and the elimination of the illegal drug trafficking ring led by two brothers Long and Trong has contributed to pushing back drug crimes, ensuring security and order in Nghia Dan district and bringing confidence to the masses./.