The bitter end for the woman who abandoned her child to follow her lover into heroin trafficking.

Abandoning her child for her lover.

Nguyen Thi Van (42 years old), residing in Huu Kiem commune, Ky Son district, was recently brought to trial by the People's Court of Nghe An province for the crime of "Illegal trafficking of narcotics" along with her accomplice, Duong Van Sang (49 years old), residing in Tam Lanh commune, Phu Ninh district (Quang Nam province). Sang and Van were lovers and lived together as husband and wife.

Before meeting Van, Sang had divorced two wives. Meanwhile, Van's husband is currently serving a prison sentence for drug-related offenses.

Van paid the price with 15 years in prison for following her lover into drug trafficking. Photo: Tran Vu

While her husband was in prison, Van worked abroad for a period of time. After returning to Vietnam, Van built a house for herself and her two children to live in. Then, Van went to Quang Nam and had a romantic relationship with a man named Sang who had been divorced twice.

In Tam Ky city (Quang Nam province), Van and Sang rented a room and lived together from 2019. During their time living together, Sang accompanied his lover to Nghe An province several times and learned about a source of drugs from a Hmong ethnic minority. Sang then "revealed" this to his friend, Dang Huu Ngan. Ngan repeatedly tried to hire Sang to buy drugs in Nghe An, but Sang refused because he considered the payment too low.

On June 13, 2021, Sang and Van went to Nghe An to get their national identity cards. Upon hearing this, Ngan also took a bus to follow them, asking Sang to buy drugs for her. When they met at a guesthouse in Thach Giam town, Tuong Duong district, Ngan gave Sang 155 million VND to buy 1.5 blocks of heroin, promising to pay him 50 million VND as commission.

During this negotiation, Sang agreed because the rental price had increased. To facilitate the drug purchase, Sang invited Van to a shop to buy a used motorbike. The following afternoon, Sang drove Van to the meeting point with the Hmong man and gave him the money to order heroin.

In the early morning of June 16th, a Hmong man called Sang to inform him that the "goods" had arrived and arranged a meeting place for the handover. Unfamiliar with the area, Sang handed the phone to Van. Van knew it was the drug delivery location but still drove Sang there. On their way back, the couple was arrested by the police along with 370 grams of drugs.

A heartbreaking ending.

Both were prosecuted and tried for "illegally trafficking narcotics." Throughout the trial, Van cried, her eyes red and swollen, constantly lowering her head. The female defendant admitted knowing Sang was buying drugs when he asked her to answer a phone call to inquire about a location. Van stated that she never imagined that "just helping like that" would lead to a long prison sentence. The defendant showed remorse and asked the court for a reduced sentence so she could return to her children sooner, as her husband is currently in prison. When questioned by the court about why she followed her husband in trafficking drugs, Van only bowed her head and wept.

Local authorities in the area where Van resides have confirmed the family's difficult circumstances. After her husband went to prison, the police and local authorities repeatedly visited the family to educate them about the law, but Van followed in her husband's footsteps. Now, with both parents in prison, Van's children are living with their grandparents.

The defendant repeatedly wept during the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

In the case, the accomplice, defendant Sang, also confessed honestly and admitted to the crime. Sang claimed he had helped buy drugs for a friend. However, based on Sang's testimony, the investigating agency questioned Ngan, but she denied asking the defendant to buy drugs. Because Sang was the only witness, the investigating agency had no basis to prosecute.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel of judges sentenced Duong Van Sang to 20 years in prison and Nguyen Thi Van to 15 years in prison for the crime of "illegally trading in narcotics".

Without a father, Van's children had to endure a precarious and deprived childhood. Now, without a mother, those children are even more disadvantaged. This seems to be the greatest incompetence and negligence of a mother like Van.