The excuse of the man who knew the package contained drugs but did not report it to the police

Secrets in the box sent from abroad

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Tran Anh Tai (born 1982), residing in Vinh Tan ward, Vinh city, for the crime of“Illegal possession of drugs”. This is the third time Tai has stood at the witness stand. Previously, Tai was sentenced to 6 months in prison for theft of citizens' property. In 2004, Tran Anh Tai was sentenced to 16 years in prison for illegal drug trafficking. After serving 4 years of his sentence, Tai was arrested again for being involved in a large amount of drugs sent from abroad.

Through social networks, Tai met a person whose identity and address were unknown. In September 2020, Tai was asked by this person to receive a package of functional foods sent from abroad. About a week later, Tai received the package, inside were 2 pairs of sneakers, some clothes and many packages, boxes containing blue, brown tablets and white crystals. Tai was instructed to divide the shoes and clothes in half and send them to 2 addresses in Macao (China). After that, Tai did not send the goods directly but asked his friend named Tuan to divide the goods and send them.

For the crime of illegal possession of narcotics, defendant Tran Anh Tai received a life sentence. Photo: Tran Vu

About two days later, the sender informed Tai that the tablets in the dietary supplement box and the white crystalline powder were drugs. The sender told Tai to keep them and would send them when someone called, promising “not to let anyone lose out.” The sender also instructed Tai to buy four pairs of shoes, pry open the insoles to put drugs in them, and send them. Tai bought the shoes and followed the instructions, but it didn’t work.

Regarding the 2 packages that Tai asked his friend to send, on the afternoon of October 22, 2020, the post office reported that 1 package was returned. When Tuan was receiving the returned package to bring back to Tai, the police checked and discovered many packages of drugs weighing more than 228 grams.

Based on Tuan's testimony, the authorities detained him in an emergency, searched Tran Anh Tai's residence, and seized many packages of drugs contained in functional food boxes with a total weight of more than 2.1 kg.

Regarding the remaining package, during the process of receiving and screening the parcel, the express delivery staff discovered 3 plastic packages containing drugs (weighing more than 300 grams) under the sole of the shoe, so the unit reported it to the police. The authorities have initiated a case of illegal transportation of drugs, but currently, because the suspect has not been identified, the Hanoi City Police Department of Investigation is temporarily suspending the investigation of the case.

The excuse of the person who hid drugs in the house

During the interrogation in court, defendant Tran Anh Tai stated that he only received the goods for an acquaintance online. Tai stated that the person told him to send a box of functional foods as a birthday gift for his friend, so the defendant accepted it for him without knowing that there were drugs inside.

“The defendant just met someone through social media but spent 4 million VND to pay for the shipping fee to help them?”, in response to the court’s question, Tai replied: “The defendant just thought that since he had agreed to do it, he would keep his word, and he would receive the money back later.” Regarding the promised payment, Tai stated that he only heard the person say “he would not let anyone lose out” but did not know the exact amount.

Tai said goodbye to his relatives before returning to the detention camp. Photo: Tran Vu

At the trial, the defendant admitted that he had been in prison for many years for drug trafficking. “You were in prison, why didn’t you report it to the police when you knew it was drugs and kept it in the house?”, the court asked. Tai answered: “Because I was afraid that my wife, children and relatives would be retaliated against.” According to Tai, at that time his wife had just given birth and his elderly mother was still at home, so he kept quiet and did not report the drugs sent from abroad to the police.

Difficult family circumstances and young children were also the reasons the defendant gave to ask the court to consider reducing his sentence. However, the panel of judges determined that in this case the defendant committed a crime with aggravating circumstances and therefore needed to be dealt with strictly to serve as a deterrent and general prevention. Considering the case as a whole, the panel of judges sentenced the defendant Tran Anh Tai to life in prison.

The third time entering the prison gate with an indefinite prison sentence, Tai's life was buried in prison. When being escorted out, Tai tried to raise his handcuffed hands to wave to his relatives, wife and children behind him...