The addict's excuse for hiring his nephew to transport drugs and then going on the run

Mong Van Ly (35 years old) is the youngest of 6 siblings in Gia Mien commune, Van Lang district (Lang Son province). After finishing 9th grade, Ly dropped out of school and followed his relatives to work for hire.

Ly also had a wife and children, but they have gone their separate ways. He does not share much about his family life but admits that part of the conflict was due to his drug addiction. Because of his drug addiction, in 2017, Mong Van Ly was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for illegal possession of drugs.

After serving his prison sentence, Ly returned to his old ways. His drug addiction became more severe, making him pale, yawning, and constantly irritable with his relatives. At this time, the burden of making a living weighed heavily on his old father’s shoulders after his mother had passed away.

Despite his difficult family situation, his mother passed away and he was divorced, Ly did not give up his relationship with the “brown fairy”. Instead, he fell deeper into drug addiction. To satisfy his own needs, Ly spent a large sum of money to buy drugs and then hired someone to go to Nghe An to bring them back.

Defendant Mong Van Ly was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Photo: Tran Vu

The indictment shows that, due to addiction, at the end of 2020, Ly called a man named Huong in Tuong Duong district to order 1 heroin cake, priced at 156 million VND for gradual use. Ly did not directly go to receive it but hired his nephews Mong Van Xep (23 years old) and Hua Van Do (38 years old), both residing in Van Lang district (Lang Son province) to go to Nghe An to get the "goods". Being promised a payment of 5 million VND and drugs to use, Xep and Do agreed.

That same evening, after receiving 4 million VND in travel expenses, Do and Xep took a bus from Lang Son to Nghe An. At around 10:00 a.m. on January 1, 2021, Huong picked them both up and took them to a shack in the forest in Dua village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district to wait for the drugs. After a day of waiting, the next morning, Xep gave Huong 156 million VND and received 1 heroin cake in return.

At noon of the same day, Do hid drugs on his person to go home but was arrested by Nghe An police. Based on Do's statement, the police arrested Mong Van Xep and seized 0.4 grams of drugs from him.

Upon hearing that his two accomplices had been arrested, Mong Van Ly immediately fled the area. Nghe An Provincial Police issued a wanted notice for Ly for illegal possession of narcotics. After more than a year on the run, on January 20, 2022, Mong Van Ly was arrested.

At the trial of three defendants Mong Van Ly, Mong Van Xep and Hua Van Do for the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, the three defendants confessed to their crimes. As the mastermind, defendant Ly said he bought drugs for his own use, not to sell. "Every day, I spend about 100,000 VND to buy drugs for my own use," Ly said. This defendant admitted that he knew that possessing drugs was against the law. When asked by the court about the reason for his two-year escape, Ly said he was afraid.

Drugs not only got Ly into trouble with the law, but he also dragged his nephew into prison. Ly's nephew, Mong Van Xep, also fell into addiction. Also because he was a slave to the brown fairy, Xep agreed to get drugs for his uncle to use. Drugs pushed the young man, who was not married or had children, into prison.

3 defendants at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu

The defendants presented their difficult circumstances, being ethnic minorities, and having limited legal awareness to ask the court to consider reducing their sentences and asking for a chance to correct their mistakes and start their lives over.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants were persons with full capacity to bear criminal responsibility, aware that illegal possession of narcotics was a violation of the law. That behavior was dangerous to society, causing disorder and insecurity in the area. The defendants were aware of that, but to satisfy their own needs, they still intentionally committed the crime.

In this case, defendant Mong Van Ly committed the crime as the initiator and enticer, so the court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The other two defendants committed the crime as accomplices, so the court sentenced Mong Van Xep to 18 years in prison and Hua Van Do to 17 years in prison.

Drugs have taken away Ly’s youth and freedom. This time, Ly no longer has to quit using drugs but has to “quit himself” in prison. Serving a 20-year prison sentence at the age of 35, will Ly still have a chance to start all over again?