Rewarding the task force that seized 700 kg of crystal meth in Nghe An

On the morning of April 25, the Provincial People's Committee held a ceremony to award the outstanding achievements of the 319MT Task Force in the fight against drug crimes. Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An Province; Comrade Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Colonel Nguyen Huu Cau - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Director of the Provincial Police Department attended. Photo: Pham Bang

Need strategic thinking, decisive action

Speaking at the award ceremony, comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province emphasized that, looking at the huge amount of drugs discovered in the recent past, if we do not have specific and drastic actions, we will face huge challenges and consequences for society and people's lives.

Emphasizing that the fight against drugs is extremely difficult, complicated and dangerous, the Provincial Party Secretary said that it requires joint efforts, consensus, strategic thinking and resolute and precise action to achieve high efficiency.

Congratulating the success of the Task Force, the Provincial Party Secretary requested that all sectors coordinate to fight regularly, not only against transnational drug trafficking lines but also against drug trafficking activities in the area. Try to minimize the number of drug addicts, destroy drug trafficking gangs and locations, and minimize the drug situation in the area.

Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh emphasized that in the fight against drugs, there needs to be joint efforts, consensus, strategic thinking and resolute and precise actions to achieve high efficiency. Photo: Pham Bang

For this outstanding achievement, the Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee decided to reward 3 groups including: Drug Investigation Police Department, Criminal Techniques Department and Quynh Luu District Police (Nghe An Police) 100 million VND; reward the Provincial People's Procuracy 20 million VND.

The Director of Nghe An Provincial Police also awarded 3 groups including: Drug Investigation Police Department, Criminal Techniques Department and Quynh Luu District Police 10 million VND.

Journey to eradicate transnational drug trafficking ring

Through the investigation, Nghe An Provincial Police discovered a drug trafficking and transportation ring led by Taiwanese-Chinese subjects, colluding with Nghe An subjects to rent warehouses, gather drugs hidden in goods in Quynh Luu district, then transport them through Nghe An province for transit to a third country for consumption.

Faced with the above situation, the provincial police leadership directed the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department of the provincial police to coordinate with the Quynh Luu district police to synchronously carry out professional measures to collect relevant information and documents; at the same time, establish a special project with code number 319MT to focus on fighting and destroying.

This is the project to seize the largest amount of drugs ever by Nghe An Police. Photo: PX03

On April 17, 2019, Nghe An Provincial Police received information that the subjects would transport drugs to disperse, so the provincial police leaders directed the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department and Quynh Luu District Police to coordinate to solve the case, arresting 3 subjects, including: Nguyen Van Phu (born in 1990, residing in Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district); Vo Sy Manh (born in 1983, residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city); Nguyen Bao Trung (born in 1996, residing in Hung Dong commune, Vinh city).

At the same time, the task force summoned two related subjects to work, including: Nguyen Duc But (born in 1991, residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city); Nguyen Thi Tam (born in 1977, residing in Quynh Hong commune, Quynh Luu district). The task force seized 23 white snake skin bags containing 700 kg of crystal meth, 50 sets of speakers, 1 electronic scale, 1 truck, 4 cell phones, and 10 million VND.

After the investigation, the Investigation Police Agency of Nghe An Province Police clarified that around July 2017, through a friend in Taiwan, Nguyen Van Phu agreed to be an interpreter for a number of Taiwanese people coming to Vietnam to travel and work.

Comrade Le Minh Thong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee awarded prizes to collectives of Nghe An Provincial Police and the Provincial People's Procuracy. Photo: Pham Bang

In early March 2019, a Taiwanese man came to Nghe An to meet Phu and asked him to help him find a place to rent a warehouse for cars and goods in Quynh Luu district. Phu agreed and contacted Nguyen Thi Tam to rent a warehouse in Hamlet 1, Quynh Hong Commune, Quynh Luu District.

In early April 2019, Phu received 25 yellow cardboard boxes stored in the rented warehouse. A few days later, a Taiwanese called Phu and said that the shipment was defective and that someone had to be sent over to fix it. After that, 3 Taiwanese came to meet Phu, including: LIN SHENG HSIUN, LIN KUN JUND, HO YU-HSIANG. Phu led LIN KUN JUND, HO YU-HSIANG to the warehouse to fix the shipment. While working, the 2 Taiwanese closed the warehouse door and did not let anyone in. After finishing the job, the 2 Taiwanese and Phu returned to Vinh City.

On the afternoon of April 15, 2019, Phu read the newspaper and learned that the police had arrested a case of drugs hidden in a speaker box in Vinh City, so he informed the Taiwanese subjects. The Taiwanese subjects asked Phu to take the drugs away to avoid detection and handling by the police force.

Director of Nghe An Provincial Police Department commends the groups in the Special Investigation Committee. Photo: Pham Bang

Following the request of the Taiwanese subjects, Phu called his friend Nguyen Bao Trung and asked him to rent a truck to transport the goods. Trung asked his friend Nguyen Duc But to meet Vo Sy Manh to rent a truck to transport the goods. Then the group went to the warehouse to transport the goods in Quynh Hong commune, Quynh Luu district.

In the early morning of April 16, 2019, after loading the bags onto the truck, the subjects moved on National Highway 48B to leave Nghe An province. However, because of suspicion of police forces, Nguyen Van Phu told Vo Sy Manh to dump the goods in a rice field in Quynh Thuan commune, Quynh Luu district and drove back to Vinh city.

Afterwards, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department and Quynh Luu District Police conducted an investigation and promptly arrested Nguyen Van Phu, Vo Sy Manh and Nguyen Bao Trung.

During the investigation, with the active coordination of the Provincial People's Procuracy, the Investigation Police Agency collected sufficient documents and evidence proving that Nguyen Van Phu was the ringleader and mastermind in transporting and dispersing drugs.

Nguyen Bao Trung admitted that he knew that the goods Phu was transporting were drugs but still helped Phu. Vo Sy Manh admitted that after transporting them for Phu, Manh suspected that the goods were contraband, so he called Nguyen Van Phu to threaten him and demanded that Phu transfer 9 million VND to Manh.

Based on the collected documents and evidence, the Investigation Police Agency of Nghe An Province Police has issued a Decision to prosecute the criminal case of "Illegal transportation of drugs, Failure to report crimes and Extortion of property" to focus on investigation and clarification.

Up to now, the Investigation Police Agency of Nghe An Province has prosecuted 4 defendants, including: Nguyen Van Phu for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs", Nguyen Bao Trung for the crime of "Failure to report a crime", Vo Sy Manh for the crime of "Extortion of property"; at the same time, prosecuted and issued an international warrant for Taiwanese subject: LIN SHENG HSIUN for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs"..

As for the remaining two Taiwanese subjects, the Nghe An Provincial Police Department will continue to consolidate files and documents to prosecute the defendants and issue international arrest warrants later.