Using savings to traffic drugs, he received a 20-year prison sentence.

Having saved up 130 million VND, Nguyen Van Lap decided to traffic drugs to make quick profits. As a consequence, Lap was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On the morning of September 20th, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial to hear the case of Nguyen Van Lap (born in 1993), residing in Block 4, Tay Son town, Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province, on the charge of "illegally trading narcotics".

According to the indictment, at approximately 4:00 AM on March 19, 2016, Nguyen Van Lap traveled from Ha Tinh to Kim Son town, Que Phong district (Nghe An province) to buy drugs for a person named Truong in Hanoi.

Defendant Nguyen Van Lap

Upon arriving, Lap met a man named Danh and bought a block of heroin from him for 130 million VND. After receiving the goods, Lap concealed them on his person and then boarded a bus to Vinh City.

When Lap was driving his vehicle to Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district, he was discovered and arrested by a task force of the Nghe An Provincial Police. The forensic examination report from the Criminal Technical Department of the Provincial Police confirmed that the white powder seized from Nguyen Van Lap was heroin weighing 349.11 grams.

At the trial, Nguyen Van Lap sincerely confessed to his crime and stated that he acted recklessly due to financial difficulties. Although he cited "desperation as the reason," Lap claimed that the 130 million VND used to buy the drugs was his savings. Previously, in 2011, Nguyen Van Lap was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Ha Tinh Provincial People's Court for theft. He has served his sentence but his criminal record has not yet been expunged.

The panel of judges determined that Nguyen Van Lap's criminal act was dangerous, infringing upon the State's exclusive right to manage narcotics, and constituted a repeat offense… After a comprehensive review of the case, the panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Van Lap to 20 years in prison.

Nhu Binh