Prosecution of illegal mineral exploitation in Thanh Chuong

Previously, the scouts discovered a network specializing in illegal mining and trading of minerals of unknown origin in Thanh Dong commune and Thanh Chuong town, Thanh Chuong district. The subjects used iron-hulled motorboats with high capacity to illegally mine minerals in the Lam River basin flowing through Thanh Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district, then dumped them at sand piers and gathering places in the area to resell to organizations and individuals in need.

Violating boats, illegally exploited minerals and evidence discovered and temporarily seized by police. Photo: Trong Tuan

Under the direction of the Provincial Police Department, the Environmental Police Department established a special project and deployed synchronous professional measures to effectively combat the subjects. On the night of April 28, 2022, while the subjects were carrying out their activities, it suddenly rained and visibility was limited; realizing that the opportunity was ripe, the Special Project Team decided to crack the case. At around 10:00 p.m. the same day, the Environmental Police Department's working group coordinated with Thanh Chuong District Police to discover and arrest 3 subjects including Nguyen Van Thang (born in 1978), Nguyen Van Binh (born in 1971) and Ngu Thi Hoa (born in 1974), all residing in Block 4A, Thanh Chuong Town, who were operating a homemade iron-hulled motorboat to suck sand from the riverbed to the boat's hold in Thanh Dong Commune, Thanh Chuong District.

Authorities conduct professional activities. Photo: Trong Tuan

During the investigation, the subjects were unable to present any documents or procedures for the exploitation and admitted that the sand exploitation activities were illegal. The two main subjects, Nguyen Van Thang and Nguyen Van Binh, were both administratively sanctioned by the police for exploiting minerals without a mining license from a competent state agency within the past year.

The area where violators dumped minerals. Photo: Trong Tuan

The Environmental Police Department has drawn up a record to continue verifying and clarifying the incident. The temporarily seized exhibits include a homemade iron-hulled motorboat and about 30m3 of sand. Further verification was conducted and it was discovered that at the sand gathering site of Mr. Nguyen Doan Duc (born in 1964), residing in Block 2A, Thanh Chuong Town (currently Deputy Director of Thanh Chuong Sand and Gravel Exploitation Joint Stock Company), about 400m3 of various types of sand were being stored without being able to present documents or procedures to prove the legal origin of the above sand. In addition, based on the books seized by the police, it was determined that from the beginning of 2022 to present, the above subjects have illegally exploited more than 35 trips with a total volume of more than 1,700m3 to dump at Mr. Nguyen Doan Duc's sand gathering wharf.

Authorities work with violators. Photo: Trong Tuan

Based on the collected documents, determining that the subjects' behavior showed signs of the crime of "Violating regulations on research, exploration, and exploitation of resources" according to Article 227 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police issued a Decision to initiate criminal proceedings.

The case has been transferred to the competent authority for further investigation and clarification.