The bitter end of the 'shipper' couple brother-in-law and brother-in-law

Brother-in-law drove his sister-in-law to "ship" drugs.

Nghe An Provincial People's Court on a day in mid-February, the drizzle made the cold even more bitter. In the cold, small children still followed adults to the courtroom. They were relatives of two defendants being tried for "Illegal transportation of narcotics". The two defendants in the case were Nguyen Dinh Thanh (28 years old) and Pham Xuan Chat (35 years old), both residing in Tru Son commune, Do Luong district (Nghe An).

The two defendants had a close relationship as brother-in-law and sister-in-law, which made the pain of their relatives who came to court even greater. Many people shed tears when witnessing the two defendants, who had a close relationship, standing before the witness stand with their hands cuffed.

Holding two small grandchildren in his arms, the man over 60 years old sadly said that they were the children of the defendant Chat. Since the day their father was arrested, their mother went to work for a company to make a living, so the little grandchildren had to rely on their grandparents for support and care. Today, they brought the grandchildren to court so that the family could reunite after many days of separation. But because they were still young, the children played freely despite the adults repeatedly calling their father's name.

Sitting in the courtroom, Chat repeatedly turned his head to look at his children with red eyes. The defendant expressed remorse for his own mistakes that had pushed his family into tragedy. More than anything, he had caused his children to live in material and spiritual deprivation.

Pham Xuan Chat's crime began with the invitation of his brother-in-law, Nguyen Dinh Thanh. According to the indictment, on December 18, 2023, Thanh was hired by a man named Hoang Van Hung (unknown identity and background) to go to Que Phong district (Nghe An) to transport 2 packages (i.e. 60 packages of pink drugs) for a salary of 10 million VND. Thanh agreed to the above request.

Knowing that his brother-in-law had a pickup truck, Thanh hired Pham Xuan Chat to take him to get the drugs. The two sides agreed on a fare of 4 million VND for the trip. On December 22, 2023, the person who hired the transport contacted Thanh to urge him to pick up the drugs, and also gave him the phone number of the person who sent the “goods”. Thanh then called to agree on the location and time to pick up the heroin.

That same evening, Chat drove Thanh to a mountainous district in Nghe An to get drugs. When they reached the intersection of Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, following the seller’s instructions, Thanh went to the ditch and saw a box of drugs so he picked it up and got in the car.

After getting the drugs, Thanh asked his brother-in-law to take him home. However, when the two of them arrived at Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district, they were arrested by the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department. The evidence of the case was more than 1.2 kg of pink drugs.

At the trial, the two defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. Defendant Thanh stated that he agreed to transport drugs for hire because of the promise of 10 million VND in wages. To facilitate the transport of drugs, the defendant hired his brother-in-law, defendant Chat, for 4 million VND.

Defendant Chat, although aware of his brother-in-law’s wrongdoings, instead of preventing them, agreed to help. Therefore, in this case, the defendant was prosecuted by the authorities for transporting drugs in an active supporting role.

Late repentance

During the trial, defendant Chat shed tears many times, especially when mentioning his children. Chat's four children are still young, at the age of eating and studying. The defendant choked up and shared that during the days in detention, he always felt guilty towards his wife, children, relatives, and clan. Many nights, he was tormented, blaming himself for so easily falling into the path of drug trafficking.

The defendant felt remorse and choked up, causing him to wipe his face with his hand several times. He expressed his remorse and asked the court to consider reducing his sentence so that he could soon have a chance to correct his mistakes and make up for the losses his wife and children had to endure. In his final words before the court deliberated, defendant Thanh asked the panel of judges not only to consider reducing his own sentence but also that of defendant Chat. Afterwards, defendant Thanh turned to apologize to Chat for dragging his brother-in-law into prison.

During the trial, Chat’s children were led inside by their relatives. They were still young and did not understand the whole story, playing innocently despite their father calling their names many times. Seeing their innocence, Chat shed even more tears. The young father choked up as he apologized to his children, and at the same time told them to try to study well and obey their elders.

Seeing her son sobbing, the defendant’s mother immediately encouraged him. Holding back her sadness, she told her son: “If you made a mistake, try to correct it.” After a moment of silence, she added: “When you get in there, remember to listen to the officers, try to practice so you can return soon…” The mother continued to encourage Chat to rest assured, the children out here will be taken care of and taught by their parents.

Hearing his mother's advice, Chat cried even more. The erring child apologized to his mother. At the same time, he asked his birth mother to take care of him and raise him to be a good person.

Their meeting was interrupted when the panel of judges announced the verdict. The panel of judges determined that the defendants' actions violated the law and committed the crime of illegally transporting narcotics. In this case, defendant Nguyen Dinh Thanh played a key role and was sentenced to life in prison. For his active role in the case, defendant Pham Xuan Chat was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "Illegally transporting narcotics".

Regarding the man named Hung that defendant Thanh claimed to have hired to transport drugs, because this person was not present in the locality, the investigation agency has no basis to handle this case.

The trial ended late at noon, the two defendants were escorted by the police to a covered truck. Defendant Chat tried to turn his head to look at his wife and children in the bustling crowd. His tears of regret were too late. The case is also a warning lesson for many others, do not be greedy for immediate benefits and rush into crime.