Drug trafficker of more than 13 kg of opium, wanted for 26 years, sentenced to 12 years in prison

On December 27, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Vi Van Hoc (born 1964), residing in Muong Xen town, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Illegal buying, selling, and transporting of narcotics".

According to the indictment, on July 11, 1992, Vi Van Hoc was at home when a Laotian man named Phu My came to meet him and hired him to take 10 packages of opium to a hotel in Vinh City to deliver to a customer for a fee of 200,000 VND. On July 12, Vi Van Hoc brought 10 packages of opium weighing 13.2 kg and took a bus to Vinh City. Hoc stayed at the house of an acquaintance named Bui Manh Cuong to wait for the delivery time.

Defendant Vi Van Hoc in court. Photo: Nguyen Duong

On the evening of July 15, Hoc went to meet Phu My at the hotel, but the man told Hoc to continue keeping the "goods" so he could find customers. Phu My promised to pay Hoc more.

A day later, My came to Hoc and said she had found a customer and set a time and place for Phu My to deliver the goods. Because she was afraid that carrying 10 packages of opium in her bag would be discovered, Hoc left 2 packages in Cuong's wooden cabinet and Cuong drove Hoc to deliver the goods. When the two arrived at the intersection in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city, they were arrested by the police.

On October 30, 1992, the Vinh City People's Court sentenced Hoc to 18 months in prison, suspended, and Cuong to 6 months in prison for "trafficking in prohibited goods". However, the Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy later appealed to cancel the entire sentence and prosecute Vi Van Hoc and Bui Manh Cuong for "illegally buying, selling, and transporting narcotics". Knowing that the sentence had been changed, Vi Van Hoc fled to Laos. In 1998, the police investigation agency issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Vi Van Hoc.

In Laos, Hoc changed his name and obtained Lao citizenship, and started a new family. After many unsuccessful attempts to approach him, the wanted detectives turned to persuading and mobilizing the subject to surrender. In early August 2018, Hoc's older brother went to Laos, carrying a letter calling for his surrender from the Nghe An wanted police. After more than a week of persuasion and ideological work, Vi Van Hoc agreed to return to Vietnam to surrender after 26 years on the run.

At the trial, Vi Van Hoc confessed to all his crimes. Hoc said that he was an unfilial son to his family, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and did not fulfill his duties. He knew he was guilty and hoped the jury would reduce his sentence so he could return to his family soon.

Defendant Vi Van Hoc was found guilty of “Illegal trading and transportation of narcotics”. Based on the details at the trial, the panel sentenced defendant Vi Van Hoc to 12 years in prison for “Illegal trading and transportation of narcotics”.