Plan to arrest quarry owner and explosives dealer

(Baonghean.vn)- Although he is the owner of a quarry, Mr. Thanh also sells explosives.

» Secretly bought 34kg of explosives to illegally mine stone

On October 26, the Environmental Police Department (PC49) handed over Tran Van Thanh (Da Son hamlet, Nghia Phuc commune, Tan Ky district) to the Provincial Police Department of Investigation Security to investigate and clarify the act of storing 34kg of explosives.

Previously, through reconnaissance work, PC49 received information that at Len Roi stone quarry (Nghia Phuc commune, Tan Ky district), there was a local quarry owner who regularly used illegal explosives to exploit stone. Through investigation, the detectives determined that Mr. Tran Van Thanh, a local, was the owner of the above quarry.

Mr. Tran Van Thanh and the evidence of 34kg of explosives. Photo: Hai Chau

For a long time, Mr. Thanh not only exploited rocks but also used explosives illegally, but the local government and functional forces were unaware. To catch him in the act, Department PC49 established Project 117N. Detectives discovered that Mr. Thanh often had relationships with some subjects in other localities to buy and sell illegal goods.

One day, Mr. Thanh even rode his motorbike to Nghia Dan district to buy explosives. Each time they bought illegal goods, the above subjects usually met at night in a mountainous area, far from residential areas.

On the night of October 23, detectives discovered Mr. Thanh preparing a sack of snake carcasses and cash, then hurriedly leaving the house on a motorbike. Concluding that Mr. Thanh was going to buy illegal explosives, the task force decided to catch him red-handed but were wary of his reckless actions.

That very night, under the direction of the Task Force, two reconnaissance teams were ambushed at two locations to monitor Mr. Tran Van Thanh's actions. The first reconnaissance team was tasked with ambushing at the Len Roi quarry (500m from Mr. Thanh's house); the reconnaissance team was also tasked with ambushing at the area where Mr. Thanh and his wife lived.

"According to the plan, when discovering Mr. Thanh transporting contraband goods, the reconnaissance teams had to proactively coordinate actions, but in the most secretive way. Because if they heard strange noises, the subject would be ready to throw away the contraband goods and escape," said Lieutenant Colonel Tran Minh Son - Deputy Head of PC49.

The sack containing explosives was stored by Mr. Thanh with sacks of corn and rice. Photo: Hai Chau

After nearly a night of ambush, at around 4:30 a.m. on October 24, the detectives discovered a motorcyclist on a deserted mountain road, and the motorcyclist was Mr. Thanh. When the detectives approached about 100 meters to catch the suspect, Mr. Thanh did not go straight to the quarry but turned into a shortcut to his home, so the arrest plan changed.

When Mr. Thanh carried the sack into the house, then used sacks of corn and rice to block the area, the detectives decided to switch to an administrative inspection plan and arrest the subject. At about 8:30 a.m. the same day, when Mr. Thanh was at the quarry, a man came to ask about being a worker.

Mr. Thanh took the guest home. While Mr. Thanh was receiving the guest, detectives in coordination with Tan Ky District Police and Nghia Phuc Commune Police appeared and conducted an administrative inspection.

Here, the authorities discovered in the horizontal house a number of snake skins containing corn and rice, with a blue bag in the middle. Inside the blue sack was a plastic bag containing 25 electric detonators and 17 plastic bags, each bag containing 10 brown explosives, totaling 34kg.

During the on-site investigation, Mr. Thanh stated that the above prohibited goods were purchased on the open market. To investigate and clarify, the working group took Mr. Tran Van Thanh and all the above prohibited goods to the Provincial Police Department of Investigation.

Len Roi, where Mr. Thanh illegally quarries stone. Photo: Hai Chau

At the investigation agency, Mr. Thanh confessed that in order to serve the illegal stone mining, Mr. Thanh rode a motorbike to Nghia Dan district to meet a male subject (unknown hometown) to buy 34kg of explosives, priced at 150,000 VND/kg and 25 detonators, priced at 15,000 VND/detonator.

On October 25, PC49 Department handed over Mr. Tran Van Thanh and all the evidence of the case to the Investigation Security Agency for further investigation and expansion according to its authority. After 1 day of fighting, the Investigation Security Department of Nghe An Police arrested another subject related to the case of illegal explosives trading of Mr. Tran Van Thanh.

The case is continuing to expand and investigate.

Hai Chau