The man who dragged his daughter into crime

(Baonghean)- On March 8, 2013, Vinh City Police successfully discovered a special case coded 113M, cutting off a drug ring from abroad to Vinh City, arresting 2 subjects, and actively searching for another subject; confiscating 2.5 heroin cakes (888 grams), 9,300 USD, 180 million VND, 2 cars and some other related evidence. Notably, the 2 subjects are a biological mother and daughter...

Even though she was sitting in the interrogation room and had to answer the investigator's questions, the woman in her 40s still could not hide the sharp eyes on her pretty face. Before and after, she still told the interrogation officer that, with the 2 heroin cakes caught red-handed by the police, she did not want to make any excuses. Then she collapsed and sobbed. She was Dang Thi Huong, residing in Vinh Lam block, Dong Vinh ward (Vinh city), a key subject in the drug crime ring that was cut off by Vinh city police on the afternoon of March 8, 2013. Huong confessed that her crime was clear, very serious. But more painfully, who knows what possessed her to drag her daughter into that dark path?

A few rooms away, her daughter, Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc, was also facing the investigator at the interrogation table. She was 20 years old, a third-year student at a university in Hanoi, with a bright future ahead of her, and yet… A few days ago, she took the opportunity to visit home and was taken by her mother to go out with her two younger siblings on the occasion of March 8th in a newly purchased car. According to Ngoc, she could not have imagined that her sisters were being used by her mother as a cover for a drug shipment.

Subject Dang Thi Huong and daughter.

Before the investigation agency, Ngoc insisted that she had not known for a long time that her mother was dealing in drugs. That, only when she was arrested by the police did she realize that in the small handbag she was carrying, there were 2 heroin bars (about 750 grams). That, she had no idea about her mother's intentions or criminal behavior. Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc's initial statement will of course be clarified by the authorities. But, one thing is certain, she and her mother could not have known that in recent months, every move of her mother - Dang Thi Huong, was under the "crosshairs" and closely monitored by the Drug Crime Investigation Police Team.

Major Tran Duc Than, Captain of the Anti-Drug Crime Police Team of Vinh City Police, said that to "take down" the drug ring in which Thi Huong played a major role was an effort of the city police leadership, as well as the Special Task Force and related units. Because the subjects in this ring, from the way they organized to the way they operated, were quite tight and had many cunning tricks, especially Dang Thi Huong. Because she lived in a family environment with many people involved in drugs, Huong proved to be quite cunning. Without organizing "links" like in many other criminal rings, Thi Huong only directly received "goods" from Hoang Van Yen, residing in Hamlet 12, Thanh Long Commune (Thanh Chuong), then "distributed" them to a number of retail outlets and sold them to addicts. Thanks to "buying at the source, selling at the end", Thi Huong became rich quite quickly. In just a few years, she had repaired her house, replaced the gate with expensive materials and bought a car. Because she has no job, she always tells people around her that she relies on money sent by her husband who is abroad.

Before being arrested, Thi Huong was careful with every little move in both daily life and communication within the network. She changed her phone SIM card constantly and made fake moves. In order to deceive the police, at noon on March 8, 2013, she took all three children in a white car with license plate 37A - 078.29 to Thanh Chuong to receive the goods. If you look at it at first glance, many people can easily mistake her and her children for traveling. Along the way, she also used many tricks to detect the police following her, such as turning corners and going to the market to shop for goods. At around 4:00 p.m., the mother and children returned to the downstream, but when they reached a location on Highway 46, a "traffic accident" suddenly happened in front of them. When Dang Thi Huong had just stopped the car, a group of police arrived. She and her children had to be handcuffed because the evidence was clear: 2 heroin cakes weighing about 700 grams were in her daughter's handbag.

The news of Dang Thi Huong's arrest did not surprise the people in the town where she lived. They knew that sooner or later this woman would meet that dark end. Many people pitied the daughter who was dragged into crime by her mother. And, the two children, who had lived far away from their father (who was working abroad), now that their mother and older sister were in prison, where would they turn when their grandmother was near death?

Article and photos: Viet Long