Husband gets 16 years in prison for taking wife's money to sell drugs

On May 17, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Lu Van Tong (born 1963), residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking”.

According to the indictment, on December 8, 2021, while Tong was walking on the street, he met a woman who introduced herself as Oanh. After talking, Oanh asked Tong to buy drugs. This man told Oanh to call him whenever she needed them.

Defendant Lu Van Tong was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Photo: Tran Vu

Two days later, Oanh called Tong to buy 3 packages of heroin. They agreed on the price of 1.2 million VND per package, then set a time and place for the transaction.

At around 3:30 p.m. the same day, Tong called a Mong ethnic person to buy 3 packages of pink phien for 3 million VND. After getting the drugs, Tong hid them on his person and then drove a motorbike to deliver them to Oanh.

While the two parties were making the transaction, they were discovered by the Que Phong District Police working group and caught red-handed with 3 packages of pink pills weighing 59.49 grams.

At the trial, defendant Tong said the money he used to buy drugs came from his wife. He said he occasionally used drugs but was not addicted.

Tong presented his difficult circumstances, his family was poor, and asked the jury to return the motorbike so that his wife and children would have a means of transportation.

After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel sentenced defendant Lu Van Tong to 16 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking.