Sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking

On the morning of September 26, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a mobile court to try the first instance criminal case against Xong Ba Re (born 1989), residing in Na Ngoi commune (Ky Son) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the indictment, at about 5:00 p.m. on March 29, 2018, Xong Ba Re was at home when a man named Bi (Laotian) called and told Re to "go down to Hoa Binh Town (Tuong Duong) for a little work". Re agreed and rented a motorbike to take him to Hoa Binh Town. On the way, Re called Bi and asked "what are you going down for?". Bi said "I'm going down to get drugs to give to a woman and get 38,000 USD, and will pay 300 USD".

Xong Ba Re awaits sentencing. Photo: Phan Giang

Arriving at Hoa Binh town, Re called Bi to ask for the meeting place. Bi said, "We're going through the district hospital, the car is parked on the side of the road. Re continued to Lau village (Thach Giam) and saw a pickup truck with Lao license plate parked on the side of National Highway 7." Re went to meet Bi. Bi paid the driver that Re had hired to take him.

Bi then gave Re a yellow bag of snake flesh containing 2 bags of crystal meth, 3 bags of opium, and a handheld walkie-talkie, and told him to deliver it to a woman. Bi then gave Re the woman's phone number. After receiving the goods from Bi, Re contacted the woman to make an appointment for delivery at National Highway 7, Lau village. While waiting to deliver the goods at around 8:00 p.m. the same day, Re was caught red-handed by a working group of Vinh City Police, who seized the drugs that Bi had delivered earlier.

In the appraisal result No. 475 dated April 30, 2018, the samples of evidence seized from Re were all drugs with a total weight of 3.8 kg.

During the trial, Re did not admit his crime because he claimed that he was threatened and forced by a man named Bi to receive and transport drugs for hire.

Based on the results of the investigation, questioning, and public debate at the trial, the panel of judges determined that the Nghe An Provincial People's Procuracy's prosecution of defendant Xong Ba Re for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking" was the right person, the right crime, and the right law.

After considering, the panel of judges sentenced defendant Xong Ba Re to life in prison for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking" under Clause 4, Article 251 of the Penal Code.