The last time a police lieutenant died while arresting a drug dealer in Nghe An

Late on March 22, the small house along Highway 48 of Senior Lieutenant Sam Quoc Nghia in Chau Thang Commune (Quy Chau) was packed with people. They were neighbors, friends, relatives and comrades of Nghia. Their eyes were red and silent before the portrait of the ill-fated police officer. The coffin was placed in the middle of the house, next to it his young wife kept fainting. The sobs seemed to tear the night in this poor highland village.

Present here, Major General Nguyen Huu Cau - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Provincial Police Department and Deputy Directors took turns to encourage and share with the relatives of Senior Lieutenant Nghia. "Today is a sad day. This is a great loss for the police force," said Major General Cau.

Nghe An Police leaders were present at Senior Lieutenant Nghia's house on the evening of March 22. Photo: Tien Hung

The conversation with Lieutenant Nghia’s family was constantly interrupted by this battle-hardened general, who had been involved in hundreds of drug cases, unable to hold back his tears. His eyes were red, and he choked up several times before the portrait of his soldier.

“I am here to apologize to the family for letting my officers sacrifice. But that sacrifice has enhanced the image of the people's police "forgetting themselves for the country, serving the people". That is a noble example for officers and soldiers", Major General Cau said, adding that Nghe An Police are trying their best to capture the attackers who caused Senior Lieutenant Nghia to sacrifice.

Daily images of Senior Lieutenant Sam Quoc Nghia.

Senior Lieutenant Sam Quoc Nghia (29 years old) is of Thai ethnicity. He is the only son in the family, and his parents are also getting old this year. Five years ago, Nghia was transferred to work at the Criminal Investigation Police Team on drugs and economics of Que Phong District Police. According to Major General Cau, since then, he has continuously achieved many feats; he is one of the most elite drug detectives in Que Phong.

Having just started working at Que Phong District Police for 5 years, he has achieved the title of Emulation Fighter at the grassroots level for 3 consecutive years. Notably, at the Conference to commend good people and good deeds in the emulation movement for the Homeland Security in the period of 2015 - 2020 of emulation cluster No. 8 of units on National Highway 48A, he was honored as one of 20 outstanding faces.

Major General Nguyen Huu Cau could not hold back his tears many times during his conversation with Captain Nghia's family. Photo: Tien Hung

Senior Lieutenant Sam Quoc Nghia is a familiar name to those working in the emulation and commendation work of the Provincial Police, because each achievement and victory in arresting drug criminals of Que Phong District Police has a significant contribution from Nghia. His record of commendations has been growing over the years. One of Nghia's uncles is also an anti-drug police officer, many years ago during a pursuit he was also attacked and injured by "white death" dealers.

One of the first prominent projects that Senior Lieutenant Nghia participated in was Project 516P. That day, in the process of suppressing all kinds of crimes, protecting the election of the 14th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 term, Que Phong District Police discovered in Thong Thu commune a number of suspicious subjects frequently crossing the Vietnam-Laos border. After nearly a month of reconnaissance, determining the time when the subjects transported drugs from Laos and would exchange them at dawn in the border area, Senior Lieutenant Nghia and his teammates approached the location and organized an ambush at 1 a.m. After many hours of siege, two top drug dealers fell into the police ambush. As in later raids, before controlling the subjects, Senior Lieutenant Nghia and his teammates were fiercely fought back by these people with knives.

Major General Cau shares with Lieutenant Nghia's family. Photo: Tien Hung

Over the years, Nghia has been continuously awarded Certificates of Merit and Certificates of Merit by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An province and then the Director of the Provincial Police for his outstanding achievements. In particular, in 2018, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of Public Security for his outstanding achievements in establishing and successfully breaking Project 318D. That was the project in which Que Phong District Police arrested the drug "kingpin" Xong Xai Ho. This is a person with many tricks and cunning, in the process of buying and selling drugs, he always chooses remote and deserted mountainous areas. In addition, in the buying and selling transactions, Ho must see with his own eyes that the money is full before taking the goods to the customer. He also always moves and changes the buying and selling locations to deal with the authorities.

Provincial Police leaders offer incense before the portrait of Senior Lieutenant Nghia. Photo: Tien Hung

Receiving information that the subject would carry a firearm and conduct a drug exchange, Nghia and his teammates organized a plan to arrest him. But Ho changed locations many times. It took nearly a day of tracking Ho before the detectives caught him red-handed. Although he fought back fiercely, Nghia and his teammates quickly overpowered and successfully controlled him. After capturing the leader, the remaining henchmen were also arrested, confiscating 3 kg of crystal meth and 1,867 synthetic drug pills weighing 186.7 grams.

A few years ago, Senior Lieutenant Sam Quoc Nghia got married. Due to lack of financial resources, Nghia and his wife still live with his parents. Since having a small child, his mother is often sick, and Nghia has been encouraged and supported by his superiors many times. However, due to the nature of his work, he is rarely at home, even though his home is less than 16 km from the unit. Seeing Nghia's difficult situation, the leaders of Que Phong District Police have repeatedly proposed that he be transferred to another team to work, so that he can have more time for his family, but Nghia has always refused. "Nghia is very passionate about this job and cannot bear to transfer to another team. Although being a drug detective is very hard and dangerous, he does not have time to spend with his family," said a leader of Que Phong District Police.

Nghe An Police leaders met to hear the incident report and deploy further plans on the night of March 22. Photo: Tien Hung

Due to the nature of his work, Nghia has not been home for several days. His family does not know much about his mission. In the early morning of March 22, before leaving for duty, Nghia called his wife to remind her to wear a mask when going out. Nghia's father said that he had a premonition that something "bad" was going on, so he called his son many times. After several calls without him answering, the last conversation between Nghia and his father was summed up in one sentence: "I'm on duty." Knowing his son's job, he did not ask much, even though he was very anxious. Then, just a few hours later, the family was stunned when they received the news that Nghia had heroically sacrificed himself.

Only then did the family know that that morning, Nghia and his teammates entered the mountainous forest area in Nam Giai commune to ambush a Laotian drug dealer. When the task force reached the area, Nghia volunteered to go to the front line to move closer to the suspected area, in order to approach the suspect. Nghia then knocked down and controlled one suspect, but suddenly another suspect jumped out from behind the bushes and stabbed and slashed the drug investigator repeatedly, then rescued his accomplice and ran away. After that, despite being seriously injured, Senior Lieutenant Nghia continued to chase and signaled his teammates to come. But when his teammates arrived, the two drug dealers had fled into the deep forest, leaving behind a knife still stained with blood along the road. His teammates then took Nghia to the district medical center for emergency treatment, but he did not survive due to severe injuries and heavy blood loss.

In response to the sacrifice of Senior Lieutenant Nghia, Major General Nguyen Huu Cau said that the unit is completing procedures to propose posthumously awarding him the Second Class Military Exploit Order, making him a martyr, and promoting him to military rank.